Bernardo Silva reveals secret touchline conversation with Manchester City duo in Galatasaray win | OneFootball

Manchester City captain Bernardo Silva has revealed the details of an in-game conversation with assistant coaches Kolo Toure and Pepijn Lijnders against Galatasaray on Wednesday night.

City progressed to the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 courtesy of goals from Erling Haaland and Omar Marmoush, finishing in eighth place in the group-phase rankings and avoiding the play-off stage of the competition after claiming a 2-0 victory over the Turkish outfit.

The Blues were handed a renewed lifeline in the title race by Premier League leaders Arsenal at the weekend, with Manchester United pulling off an upset at the home of the title favourites 24 hours after City returned to winning ways against Wolves at the Etihad Stadium.

As the title race picks up steam, the jury remains out on whether Arsenal have enough fuel left in the tank to sustain the run-in amid Manchester City’s return to form in the last week after what was a poor start to 2026 for Pep Guardiola’s men.

The Blues return to league action on Sunday as they travel to north London to face Tottenham in a must-win game, with little margin for error between now and the end of the season if City are to win a fifth Premier League title in six seasons.

City remain in the hunt for silverware on four fronts and after putting one foot in the Carabao Cup final following a 2-0 win over Newcastle in the first leg of their semi-final tie, Guardiola and co can enjoy a special second half of the campaign.

However, a dressing room with as much title winning experience within will not be getting ahead of itself, with City captain Bernardo Silva thrilled to avoid the UEFA Champions League play-off stage after securing a vital win over Galatasaray on Wednesday night.

“I asked Pep Lijnders and Kolo (Toure) to tell us if we needed to score an extra goal (to finish in the top eight of the group-phase rankings),” Silva said in conversation with official Manchester City media as the Blues entered the final group-stage matchday in 11th place.

“To be fair, it was quite unlucky that Sporting scored in the last minute (against Athletic Club). And these types of days, emotions are quite high and it’s difficult sometimes to judge some things.

“Maybe if we knew we needed one more goal we would’ve gone a bit more for it and maybe we should have! At the end, everything went well, so we’re happy.”

The returning Ilkay Gundogan and Leroy Sane were warmly welcomed by the Etihad Stadium faithful on Wednesday night, with City crucially avoiding two extra play-off games in the UEFA Champions League on top of an jam-packed schedule.

Guardiola is expected to recall January signings Antoine Semenyo and Marc Guehi to the starting XI against Tottenham this weekend after the duo were ineligible to feature in City’s final UEFA Champions League group-stage game.