Manchester City fans caused a delay of around 40 seconds before Bernardo Silva‘s disastrous penalty in his side’s Champions League defeat to Real Madrid.
In a match dubbed the champions against the kings, nothing could separate the two sides across two games and it ended up with a penalty shootout, with Pep Guardiola‘s side coming up short.
City had an early advantage in the shootout when former Ballon d’Or winner Luka Modric saw his spot kick saved by Ederson, but Silva missed straight after and Kovacic also had his effort stopped.
Silva’s miss came in bizarre fashion, with the Portugal star shooting straight down the middle and Madrid stopper Andriy Lunin standing still and comfortably catching the ball in what would prove a crucial moment.
But it didn’t appear completely the player’s fault, as he was made to wait to take his kick due to the ball being in the crowd and City fans not giving it back.
Bernardo Silva (second left) was made to wait before taking – and missing – his penalty against Real Madrid
Manchester City fans held onto the ball before throwing it back, with Silva kicking his penalty into the arms of Andriy Lunin
Silva stood waiting to take his kick as Italian referee Daniele Orsato asked for a new ball, and looked on before it eventually returned from the crowd.
He then appeared nervous as he stepped up to take the kick and scooped it straight into the hands of a grateful Lunin.
The ball had ended up in the crowd after Ederson dived low to save Modric’s spot-kick just before Silva’s effort.
Replays showed 38-year-old Modric hoofing it into the stand behind the goal before making his way back to the halfway line.
Silva was stood waiting for around 40 seconds having made his way from the halfway line
The Man City star was visibly frustrated at being made to wait to take his penalty in the shootout
Replays showed Luka Modric smashed the ball into the stand behind the goal after missing his kick moments earlier
Rio Ferdinand, working as a pundit on TNT Sports, highlighted the fact that it was Silva’s own fans who were delaying the kick, before former City man Joleon Lescott revealed how it would have ruined the star’s preparations.
‘It would have taken him out of sync,’ Lescott said. ‘The routine, technique. It is a long time, you start thinking. It is a soft penalty.’
Ferdinand said it was a ‘shame’ that City fans had delayed the spot-kick. Silva was visibly frustrated as he waited to take his penalty as he was seen gesticulating with his arms before running to retrieve the ball when it was eventually returned.
Guardiola said of his player taking the penalty: ‘He said he wanted to take one and he is a reliable player. But what a game he had.’
Fans also reacted to the incident on social media. ‘How must the Man City fan who kept hold of the ball before Bernardo Silva’s penalty be feeling now,’ one wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
‘City fans not giving the ball back to Bernardo Silva will go down in history – if football fans did own goals,’ another wrote.
A third added: ‘City fans screwed themselves over holding onto the ball as long as they did before Bernardo Silva’s pen!’
Defeat by a stoic Real side ended Guardiola and City’s double Treble dream, but they remain the favourites to win a fourth straight Premier League title and to lift the FA Cup for a second consecutive season.
Users on X were quick to highlight the role of Man City fans in Silva’s crucial penalty miss
The hosts fell behind 12 minutes in when Rodrygo scored from close range and, despite a dominant display, could not draw level until De Bruyne struck 14 minutes from time.
City failed to find a winner in normal time or extra time but had the advantage in the shootout when Modric’s poor effort was saved by Ederson.
Silva was unable to capitalise and it proved to be a turning point as Real clinched victory – and a place in the last four – when Antonio Rudiger’s penalty went in off the post.
Real will take on Bayern Munich, who beat Arsenal in Wednesday night’s other quarter-final, in the semi-finals.
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