Bernardo Silva gets ‘stressed’ when Man City take things easy

Bernardo Silva admits he gets stressed when Man City relax early in the season, meaning they have no margin for error in the Premier League run-in.

A run of seven points from six Premier League games between Bonfire Night and Christmas left Man City playing catch-up in the title race.

They eventually finished the season with nine straight wins to pip Arsenal to the title by two points and claim their record fourth straight Premier League.

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The 29-year-old Portuguese told Sky Sports of his pride, saying: “Four in a row has never been done before. A lot of hard work (has been) put in over seven years.

“It’s so difficult, we had to win nine games in a row because Arsenal pushed us to the limit at the end. We are very proud of what we achieved.”

The former Monaco man claimed City are full of belief in their ability, however he doesn’t enjoy the periods when they play like the pressure is off.

“We definitely know what we are able to do, but it’s never relax because it’s never good to be second or third, we always want to be top of the league,” he said.

4 in a row and 6 in 7 years!
What a day 😄💙🏆@premierleague @ManCity pic.twitter.com/NLCNoOrhZe

— Bernardo Silva (@BernardoCSilva) May 19, 2024

“Sometimes in the beginning of the season, when we don’t have that much pressure, the team relaxes a bit when it shouldn’t and at the end of the season we always compensate a bit.

“If you ask me personally I prefer to stay on top all season because it’s so stressful and the pressure we have knowing we have to win nine, 10 or 12 games in a row like we have done in the past. It’s so tough.

“If you ask me it’s not relaxed. We know we are capable of going on a run but you never know if you’re really going to do it until you do it.”

Silva also hailed sub keeper Stefan Ortega for his crucial save to deny Tottenham’s Son Heung-Min when he was clean-through late in City’s penultimate game of the season – which they led 1-0 at that stage.

“It was an unbelievable save from our keeper,” he said. “You need these special moments from players to win titles and that one was a very important moment for us.”