Bernardo Silva’s red card removed any chance Manchester City had of defeating Real Madrid, but Pep Guardiola is refusing to direct any blame at his skipper.
There was a very slim chance of a Manchester City comeback against Real Madrid and this was reduced to nothing after Bernardo Silva was sent off.
The club captain attempted to black a shot by Vinicus Jr. However, he used his elbow, meaning the VAR was only ever going to make one decision.
Silva’s arms may have been behind his back, but the fact he intentionally denied a goalscoring opportunity caused him to be shown a red card for the first time in his career.
Pep Guardiola has defended Bernardo Silva
This week has been quite the fall from grace for Silva. He was the goalscorer at the weekend against West Ham, but must now deal with the decision he made which cost his team.
Despite this, Pep Guardiola is not frustrated with the Portuguese midfielder because he thinks his offence was instinctive and unavoidable.
Guardiola told Man City: “Come on, it’s not a mistake. It’s the first red card of his career. It’s an instinctive action.
“It’s not one that can be avoidable. Okay, now I’d say let them score and try 11 v 11 4-0 down. It will be difficult but see what happens.
“Never ever I will blame my player for that, especially Bernardo after what he has done for us for many years.”
Man City were unlikely to win the tie anyway
In fairness to Silva, his intervention probably made no difference to Man City’s fate in the Champions League.
It would still have been better for him not to commit a handall offence, as Real Madrid scored from the penalty spot to make it 1-0 anyway. Still, City would likely have exited the competition no matter what.
All Silva can do now is turn his focus to the weekend, so he can recover from his error and help Man City to victory in a match which could help define the club’s season.
