Bernardo Silva hailed the Manchester City fans for helping to provide the energy that propelled their astonishing destruction of Real Madrid at the Etihad and believes it was fuelled by the frustration and agony of previous Champions League defeats.
City tore into the serial European Cup winners from kick-off on Wednesday night, producing a performance that Bernardo called "amazing", and they were roared on by a raucous atmosphere inside the stadium.
The UEFA anthem was booed before kick-off once again and has there occasionally been some indifference to the competition amongst City's fanbase, but a song about reaching Istanbul was sung regularly during the 4-0 win against Real.
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Winning the Champions League has eluded City under Pep Guardiola, with a defeat in the final to Chelsea two years ago and last season's collapse against Real in the semi-finals fresh in the memory. There have also been agonising defeats to Monaco, Liverpool and Tottenham, but Bernardo believes the fans know how much this competition means to the team and how painful it has been to them as well and that is now pushing the players and the supporters on.
"They were unbelievable. They always are when we need them," he said.
"They know they know how tough it is, this competition, and they know how frustrating it's been over those last few years to not achieve what we want in this competition. They've been with us, they're always with us.
"So massive thank you to them and once again tonight they showed their appreciation for us, for the players, for the staff, for the team, and so we're so happy to give them back this opportunity to be the final. Now hopefully this year we can change the outcome of what happened two years ago."
Bernardo scored City's two first-half goals to take a stranglehold on the tie after last week's 1-1 draw at the Bernabeu and they were particularly impressive in the opening 45 minutes, enjoying 72 per cent of the possession and taking 13 shots to Real's one.
City never really surrendered that early momentum and they dominated the game this time, having won a hectic semi-final first leg against Real 4-3 last season, failing to kill off Carlo Ancelotti's side and then collapsing right at the death in Madrid.
"I'm very happy because the performance was amazing. From minute one, the pressure that we put on Real Madrid's defence – we pushed them back and we created lots of chances," said Bernardo.
"And with our people, the energy, we felt the momentum that we created. It helped a lot. The second half started in a weird way where they put us under a bit of pressure, but I think the team was very resilient, very organised, and the difference from this year to last year was the chances – we created most of them. We took them and we scored the goals."
Bernardo insisted City have "so much respect" for a Real Madrid side who have won 14 European Cups and a squad that contains several players with five winners' medals, but it was the Blues that looked the heavyweight force at the Etihad.
"To put in the performance that we all did, individually and collectively, it was magic," he said.
"We're so happy because to to give back to the club and to the supporters is the most important thing. It is what makes this game so beautiful. And yeah, it was a special night for us and we're very emotional to have this opportunity again."
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