Silva savors 'beautiful night' after starring role in rout

MANCHESTER, United Kingdom — Bernardo Silva hailed Manchester City's "wonderful" 4-0 rout of Real Madrid as the treble-chaser booked a Champions League final showdown with Inter Milan.

Silva scored City's first two goals at the Etihad Stadium before Manuel Akanji and Julian Alvarez netted to cap a swaggering display from Pep Guardiola's side.

The Portugal midfielder was one of City's key figures as holder Madrid was ripped to shreds.

"It is a beautiful night for us. We knew it would be tough but to beat this Real Madrid team 4-0 at home was wonderful," Silva said.

"We know how tough Real are. They pushed us but we were very resilient, we were passionate but organized at the same time."

Silva said he was motivated to make amends for an underwhelming display in the 1-1 draw against Madrid in the first leg.

He fooled goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois with a sublime near-post finish to put City ahead in the 23rd minute and netted the second from close range eight minutes before halftime.

"My performance in the first game in Madrid was not the one I wanted and I wanted to compensate for that," he said.

"Today I had to do better for my teammates and the fans and that is what I tried to do. I am small but good with my head!"

Silva watched Inter's semifinal on television and expects a tough test from Simone Inzaghi's side, even though City will be the firm favorite in its second Champions League final appearance.

"I watched their games, they look very strong and organized defensively. It will be tough but we will try. Hopefully we will win it," Silva said.

"The Premier League is another trophy we want to win with our fans again so we will look to recover before then."

Madrid defender Dani Carvajal admitted his team had no answers to City's relentless pressure.

"We played a rival who was better than us in this match. They pretty well overwhelmed us," he said.

"We can recognize that City was better. We were lacking something. It wasn't attitude we were lacking but we allowed ourselves to be pressed back too much.

"We knew that City was very strong at home but after the first leg we were left with the feeling that we could be better than this here, better on the ball."

With Barcelona winning the Spanish title this term, the Madrid squad faces an uncertain future that is likely to see boss Carlo Ancelotti depart, but Carvajal backed the 14-time European champion to bounce back next season.

"We are Madrid, we'll come back stronger and we'll work really hard next season to be back at this stage of the tournament," he said.

AFP