Manchester City suffered a humiliating 3-1 defeat at the hands of Real Madrid as they crashed out of the Champions League.
On the night, Pep Guardiola’s men certainly did not help themselves by making individual errors that cost them — starting with Ruben Dias, who completely misjudged a header to virtually gift Kylian Mbappe the opening goal.
The lack of urgency from Manchester City was perplexing, with their players allowing Mbappe to gist into their box, take a touch before sitting Gvardiol down with a sublime piece of footwork and score the second.
The Frenchman added a third to his tally as he was not allowed acres to space to shoot and rifled in a left-footed effort past Ederson Moraes.
While Nico Gonzalez score a late consolation goal, the damage was done as Real Madrid well and truly demolished Manchester City.
As City fans were fuming during and after the game, they pointed figures at Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva in particular — who many of them are reckon are well past their sell-by date.
Man City fans agree Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva are finished after losing to Real Madrid game
During Real Madrid’s demolition job of Manchester City, one fan simply wrote: “Thanks for everything, Gundo and Bernardo but time’s up at City.”
Another Manchester City fan wrote: “Gundo and Bernardo look so tired out there and it’s honestly painful to watch.”
A third City support requested Gundogan and Bernardo playing together as being the last time they ever do after their respectively poor displays against Real Madrid, saying: “That has to be the last time Bernardo and Gundo play together, neither of them offer us anything anymore. Sad, really.”
A fourth Manchester City fan claimed Bernardo and Gundogan in the same side is a recipe for disaster while analysing his side’s overarching issues on the night: “Bernardo and Gundogan in the same team is self-destructive. They can’t handle transitions, intensity, athleticism, duelling, or physicality against the likes of [Aurelien] Tchouameni and [Jude] Bellingham and their runners up front.”
While a fifth supporter admitted that he is not even upset as the moment he realised that Gundogan and Bernardo would start, a defeat against Real Madrid seemed inevitable, saying: “At this point, I am not even mad, the moment I saw Gundo and Bernardo starting, I know we’re going out. Onto Sunday.”
Finally, a sixth Manchester City fan felt Nico had the impossible job of playing as a holding midfielder due to Gundogan and Bernardo playing alongside him, saying: “Nico had an impossible job today btw playing with Gundo and Bernardo, felt sorry for him. Said it for months but we need a major clear out this summer! Ruthless and no sentiment at all! Ederson (if he wants out), [Kyle] Walker, [John] Stones/[Nathan] Ake (probably Stones), Gundo, Kova [Mateo Kovacic], Bernardo, [Jack] Grealish.”
Gundogan and Bernardo’s stats vs Real Madrid prove Manchester City fans right
Both midfielders, who remain City legends were extremely underwhelming and the statistics back the fans’ frustrations.
| STATS VS REAL MADRID | ILKAY GUNDOGAN | BERNARDO SILVA |
| DISPOSSESED | 6 | 3 |
| AERIAL DUELS WON | 0/0 | 0/0 |
| GROUND DUELS WON | 1/2 | 2/3 |
| XG + XA | 0.06 | 0.07 |
| ACCURATE PASSES | 55/61 | 40/41 |
| ACCURATE LONG PASSES | 0/2 | 0/0 |
The fact that Gundogan and Bernardo were dispossessed a combined nine times shows that even when it came to retaining the ball, an area where both players are known to be experts in, they faltered.
Furthermore, both players won no aerial duels and contested five duels in total, indicating how easy they were to attack against.
Gundogan and Bernardo’s passing accuracy looks impressive on paper.
But the Manchester City duo attempted two long passes and were not ambitious enough on the ball.
City fans are fair to pinpoint that the once-elite pairing are no longer the world-class midfielders they once were.
