‘We love winning & have history in our sights - Man City star’s FA Cup final message to Man Utd

Manchester City may have achieved their main objective this season, but that won’t affect motivation ahead Saturday’s FA Cup final, warns Bernardo Silva.

For the second year in a row, the competition will be settled in an all-Manchester affair when red and blue meet under the arch at Wembley. Last year, an Ilkay Gundogan brace inspired a 2-1 victory en route to City winning the treble.

That’s not a possibility this season, although it’s still been an historic campaign. After a record-breaking fourth consecutive top-flight title was secured last week, another first in English football is available on Saturday. No side has ever won back-to-back doubles.

Pep Guardiola has a penchant for setting new heights and records. The Catalan has used the goal of reaching an unprecedented team target to motivate his players over the last nine months, and despite achieving that ambition on Sunday, his team talk six days on may feel somewhat familiar to his players. Not that this group needs any additional incentives when facing Manchester United.

“It is motivation to try and do something that has never been done before,” said Bernardo Silva ahead of the cup final. “We have it in front of us and we are going to try and prepare the game as well as possible and try to be very competitive because we want this FA Cup.

“It would feel very, very good. No-one has ever won the double twice in a row and we want to get that record. We are very much looking forward to the game.”

That relentless competitive environment among the players has driven them to new heights in recent years, and Silva is one of the select few to have been part of six title-winning squads in the last seven years. He’s grown used to scaling new mountains.

“These targets always help but I think it is just the feeling that we have,” he reflected. “We are a group of players and leaders that are so competitive. Even in training if we are against each other we are so competitive.

“The feeling of winning is so much better than the feeling of losing and we love winning. If we are here every day working, then why not try and do it again and again as a team? That is what we try to do every season.”

Much like City, United have broken plenty of records this season. Sadly for Erik ten Hag, most have been unwanted, such as an eighth-place finish - their lowest in Premier League history. The Red Devils have been inconsistent this term, but Rodri warned his team-mates to expect the best version of United this weekend.

Silva knows only too well how dangerous City’s local rivals can be. During his time in England the Portugal international has lost five times against United, only six losses to Liverpool beats that record.

“[It’s] a big challenge,” the 29-year-old said ahead of what will be a third FA Cup final of his career. “They have been struggling with injuries in the last few weeks.

“I don’t know how fit some of them will be, but I expect most of them to be back. It is a derby and a derby is always a tough game. It is going to be a very competitive game for both sides and we expect a very difficult match.”