Football
Jonathan Smith, Manchester City correspondent 5y

Manchester City must move on from Champions League heartbreak or lose title to Liverpool - Silva

MANCHESTER, England -- Manchester City have to put their Champions League heartbreak behind them quickly or they could blow their Premier League titles hopes too, according to Bernardo Silva.

City's hopes of a historic Quadruple ended on Wednesday night when they were dumped out of Europe on away goals by Tottenham after a thrilling 4-3 second leg victory.

The two sides meet again on Saturday with City needing another victory to keep their title hopes in their own hands and Silva says they cannot think about trying to get revenge for their exit.

"We have a game in three days against Tottenham, again here at home; we need the three points, to win," he told reporters. "Obviously we are very disappointed but we will have to forget about it and go for the competitions we are still in.

"It's not time for revenge, it's time for another competition, time to keep us alive in the title race. We will try to win the game in the same way we did [last night], knowing that we are playing against a very good team. That will make it difficult for us.

"We know Liverpool are probably winning all their games so we have to win all our games. Our focus is to win three points after three points and at the end of it try to celebrate the title."

Pep Guardiola described the manner of City's exit as "cruel" after a late goal from Raheem Sterling was ruled out following a review by the Video Assistant Referee.

There was also controversy surrounding Fernando Llorente's decisive goaldecisive for Spurs, which was awarded despite being reviewed for an apparent handball.

"I think VAR is a good thing because it helps the referee make better decisions, so, no problems with the VAR," Silva added.

"Obviously I have had the opportunity to watch the last goal from Tottenham and the ball hits the hand, no doubt about that. But the referee takes his decision and we have to respect that.

"We are very disappointed. Obviously we wanted to qualify for the semifinals. I think after being 2-1 behind coming back to 4-2 was quite good from us, and then conceding the corner goal. We're disappointed with the result and the way we conceded the goals.

"I think the way the team played was very good, it was fantastic, especially after 2-1. But that's football. Now we have to focus on the Premier League and FA Cup, but it's not a very good feeling to have."

Silva's teammate Benjamin Mendy agreed that City can't dwell on the defeat if they are to beat Liverpool to the Premier League and become the first side to defend the title in 10 years.

"It was very hard but now it's finished and we don't have time to think about this now we have to focus on the league," he said. "We need to win to come back into first position.

"We tried to give everything -- those are the rules and we have to respect the VAR and the referee. We have to agree with this because anything we say will not change it.

"We have won the Community Shield and the Carabao Cup, now we need to win two more trophies and it will be an incredible season."

UEFA have confirmed the dates for the Champions League semifinals, with Tottenham vs. Ajax first leg on April 30 and Barcelona vs. Liverpool on May 1. Liverpool vs. Barcelona in the second leg is set for May 7, while Ajax host Tottenham on May 8.

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