Bernardo Silva has declared that the City squad were motivated to bounce back from our Champions League exit by beating Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-final for the delight of the fans.

Pep Guardiola‘s men were eliminated on penalties against Real Madrid last Wednesday, but reacted perfectly at Wembley Stadium.

Bernardo‘s 84th minute strike proved to be enough to secure progression into our second successive FA Cup final.

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Bernardo, who has a close bond with all City fans, paid tribute to the team’s hunger and desire to fight to retain our FA Cup crown.

“I’m very happy, because of another spot in the final,” he said. “Another chance to win a title for this club. This team deserves it after a disappointing week for all of us. 

“It was good to come here to Wembley and give this chance to our fans to fight for another title.

“It was very frustrating [losing to Real Madrid on penalties], but this is football.

“The way the team fought to give this happiness to our fans and the chance for them to come to Wembley again and to fight for another FA Cup, we couldn’t be happier right now.”

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The Portuguese also spoke about how it feels to score the winner in front of the City fans at Wembley, reserved special praise for our defensive players and touched on the importance of rest and recovery ahead of the final stretch of the season.

Watch the entire interview via the video at the top of the page.