Bernardo Silva sends a clear message to Guardiola and Manchester City: 'The title race is over'
Manchester City’s struggles following Rodri’s ACL injury have significantly impacted the team, with Pep Guardiola enduring one of the most challenging stretches of his managerial career. Despite a recent resurgence, City midfielder Bernardo Silva has admitted that the team is no longer in contention for the Premier League title this season.
After failing to secure a single win across all competitions in November, City has shown signs of recovery with back-to-back Premier League victories—a 2-0 triumph against Leicester City and a commanding 4-1 win over West Ham United. However, even with these results, City seems far from reclaiming its status as title contenders.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Bernardo Silva acknowledged the team’s current position and emphasized focusing on short-term goals: “Right now, it’s about accepting reality. I’m not looking at Liverpool; we’re sixth or seventh in the league. I can’t be looking at Liverpool, Arsenal, or anyone else. My focus is on the next game, trying to win three points to climb to sixth, then fifth, then fourth, then third.“
Silva also ruled out Manchester City as Premier League title contenders this season. “Right now, I would say not impossible because in soccer there are no impossibilities, but Man City is completely out of the title race, there’s no question about that. It’s too late for us,” the Portuguese admitted.
Currently sitting sixth in the Premier League table with 34 points from 20 matches, City faces a daunting 12-point gap from leaders Liverpool. Silva conceded that their title hopes have faded. “People always say that you don’t win a league until January, but you can lose it, and this season the reality is that we’ve lost it,” Silva concluded.
Guardiola addresses injury woes and future goals
The absence of key players, particularly Rodri, has compounded Manchester City’s difficulties this season. Speaking after the win against Leicester, Guardiola shared similar sentiments to Silva, expressing hope for a turnaround in the new year:
“Hopefully the new year can help us bounce back. It is not enjoyable right now, it is just relief. We have done incredible things for many years. It is not the best,” the coach said in the post match press conference against Leicester.
Guardiola also acknowledged the uphill battle in the title race. “We are far away from winning the Premier League. We accept there’s already no chance of that but we have other things to fight for: FA Cup, top four… and winning games helps,” said to BBC Match of the Day.
With Rodri sidelined for most of the season, Guardiola hinted at potential reinforcements in the January transfer window in positions where the team “need help.” So far, they haven’t made a move in the transfer window, but the coach is open to any solution to help the team for the second half of the season.