Manchester (United Kingdom) (AFP) - Bernardo Silva hailed Manchester City's "wonderful" 4-0 rout of Real Madrid as the treble-chasers booked a Champions League final showdown with Inter Milan.
Silva scored City's first two goals at the Etihad Stadium before Manuel Akanji and Julian Alvarez netted to cap a swaggering display from Pep Guardiola's side.
The Portugal midfielder was one of City's key figures as holders Real were ripped to shreds.
"It is a beautiful night for us.We know it would be tough but to beat this Real Madrid team 4-0 at home was wonderful," Silva said.
"We know how tough Real are.They pushed us but we were very resilient, we were passionate but organised at the time."
Silva said he was motivated to make amends for an underwhelming display in the 1-1 draw against Real in the first leg.
He fooled Real keeper Thibaut Courtois with a sublime near-post finish to put City ahead in the 23rd minute and netted their second goal from close-range eight minutes before half-time.
"My performance in the first game in Madrid was not the one I wanted and I wanted to compensate that," he said.
"Today I had to do better for my team-mates and the fans and that is what I tried to do.I am small but good with my head!"
City's 5-1 aggregate victory kept the Premier League leaders on course for a remarkable season.
Guardiola's team can win the title with a victory against Chelsea on Sunday, face Manchester United in the FA Cup final on June 3 and head to Istanbul to play Inter as they bid to lift the Champions League for the first time.
'They overwhelmed us'
Inter beat AC Milan 1-0 on Tuesday to seal a comfortable 3-0 aggregate triumph against their city rivals.
Silva was watching on television and expects a tough test from Inter, even though City will be firm favourites in their second Champions League final appearance.
"I watched their games, they look very strong and organised defensively.It will be tough but we will try.Hopefully we will win it," Silva said.
"The Premier League is another trophy we want to win with our fans again so will look to recover before then."
Real defender Dani Carvajal admitted the deposed holders had no answers to City's relentless pressure.
"We played a rival who were better than us in this match.They pretty well overwhelmed us," he said.
"We can recognise that City were better.We were lacking something.It wasn't attitude we were lacking but we allowed ourselves to be pressed back too much.
"We knew that City were very strong at home but after the first leg we were left with the feeling that we could be better than this here, better on the ball."
With Barcelona winning the Spanish title this term, Real face an uncertain future that is likely to see boss Carlo Ancelotti depart.
But Carvajal backed the 14-time European champions to bounce back next season.
"We are Madrid, we'll come back stronger and we'll work really hard next season to be back at this stage of the tournament," he said.
