Manchester City's early exit from the FIFA Club World Cup after a shocking 4-3 defeat to Al-Hilal in extra time has left Bernardo Silva deeply disappointed, drawing a parallel to the pain of Champions League elimination. The loss, which occurred in the Round of 16 in Orlando, Florida, has crushed the team's ambition to win the competition and extend their campaign.
Silva, who captained the side and scored the opening goal in the ninth minute, expressed his disappointment, stating that "No-one wanted to lose". He acknowledged the team's ambition for the Club World Cup and the desire to win it. Despite the congested schedule and limited holiday time, Silva emphasized that the team takes every competition seriously. "We are very used to not having holidays, unfortunately, because the schedule is crazy and when we are in a competition we take it very seriously," Silva said.
The match against Al-Hilal was a rollercoaster of emotions. City took an early lead through Silva, but Al-Hilal responded with two goals in the second half. Erling Haaland quickly equalized, forcing the game into extra time. Al-Hilal regained the lead, only for Phil Foden to level the score again. Ultimately, Marcos Leonardo's second goal of the match sealed the victory for the Saudi Arabian side.
Silva admitted that the defeat hurt as much as a Champions League elimination. "Yes, a little bit. Yes," he said when asked if the defeat was comparable to the disappointment of losing in the Champions League.
Despite the setback, Silva remains optimistic about the team's progress and development. He believes that the team has improved and is starting to regain its form, atmosphere, and energy. "But the guys that are inside [the changing room] know that we've improved and we're improving a lot," Silva stated. "We're starting to feel the team back, the atmosphere in the dressing room, the energy and even the way we play. I think there has been some improvement".
Silva also emphasized the importance of continuing to develop and improve ahead of the 2025/26 season. "We're not totally happy because we wanted to do much better, but we are starting to feel some good energy back from the team to go back to our level," he said.
City's participation in the Club World Cup was earned by winning the 2022/23 Champions League. They topped Group G with successive wins against Wydad AC, Al Ain FC and Juventus. Silva felt that City delivered a statement performance when they thrashed Juventus 5-2. He said that the performance showed that City were improving and returning to their standards. "We've always been potential winners in all competitions that we play. Obviously it's just one game but we're happy that the performance was the way it was," Silva said. "It shows that we're improving, we're coming back to the levels and to the standards that we got people used to at this club. That's good".
Looking ahead, Silva hopes the team can fight for titles again in the new season. "Hopefully try to fight again for titles - that's the aim, that's the ambition of this Club always since I arrived," he said. "We're going to work a lot to get better in some things and improve, to be able to fight for titles. That's our main goal!".
