“Manchester City is going through a rough patch,” says Bernardo Silva.

The current Premier League champions faced their third consecutive loss in the Champions League against Sporting Lisbon.

Bernardo Silva described Manchester City as being in a “dark place” after their 4-1 defeat to Sporting Lisbon.

City was stunned by Ruben Amorim’s Sporting side at the Jose Alvalade Stadium on Tuesday, marking their third straight loss. The game saw a hat-trick from former Coventry player Viktor Gyokeres, who helped deliver City’s first Champions League loss—excluding penalty shootouts—since 2022. Following recent defeats to Tottenham and Bournemouth, Silva believes the team needs to reflect deeply.

“It’s disappointing because we’re in a bit of a dark place right now,” the Portuguese midfielder told TNT Sports. “Things seem to be going wrong across the board.

“Even when we perform well, we fail to capitalize on chances and concede too easily.

“We need to look inward, understand where we’re falling short, and improve fast, or else it’ll be challenging to recover from these setbacks.”

However, manager Pep Guardiola had a more upbeat perspective, expressing his enthusiasm for the challenge of bouncing back.

“I disagree with him. We’re not in a dark place,” said Guardiola, who will lead the team against Brighton on Saturday. “We played poorly against Bournemouth but very well here. My only regret is conceding the third and fourth goals—those penalties were unnecessary.

“We anticipated a tough season, and that’s what we’re facing. I enjoy it, I embrace it, and I’m ready to lift my players. That’s life; we move forward.

“What else can we do? We go back to Manchester and prepare for Brighton. I won’t give up, that’s certain.”

City initially dominated, with Phil Foden capitalizing on an error to score within the first four minutes, suggesting an easy victory.

The game shifted, however, when Gyokeres broke through to equalize and then netted twice more from the penalty spot after Maximiliano Araujo put Sporting in the lead. City’s frustration grew when Erling Haaland missed a penalty.

It was an ideal farewell for Amorim, who took a celebratory lap after the game, marking his last home match before moving to Manchester United next week.

Amorim remarked, “Those who have watched Sporting over the last four years deserved a night like this. It was truly special.

“But we shouldn’t stop here. This shouldn’t be a one-time event. It was special in context, but we must think about our next match against Braga.

“It might have been fate that things ended this way. I’ll cherish these memories but can’t fully enjoy them yet.”