Mourinho asked for Bernardo Silva. Real Madrid's last three games gave him just over 10 minutes
Bernardo Silva joined Real Madrid in June as one of José Mourinho's own requests. In the last three league games he has played just over 10 minutes, and against Villarreal on Saturday he did not get off the bench at all.
- 282 minutes in Real Madrid's eight league games: six appearances, three starts (Mundo Deportivo).
- Unused against Elche and Villarreal; his only minutes in the last three games came against Atlético.
- He has not played in the Champions League yet: a ban carried over from City kept him out against Inter. Roma are next, on Wednesday.
Mourinho started him from the first day, but not on the right, facing goal, where he played at City. With Tchouaméni injured and Mourinho not trusting Camavinga in the role, Bernardo became the holding midfielder, according to Mundo Deportivo. It was an emergency fix, and it never looked like his position.
Then two things changed. Arda Güler took the creative spot, and Tchouaméni came back. Bernardo dropped from the starting XI to the bench, and in Portugal Record counts 15 minutes for him in the last month. A Bola calls it a desert he has never been through, with little time for the national team either.
Mourinho has not explained it publicly. SPORT calls it a mystery; Mundo Deportivo says Mourinho seems to have lost faith in him. Both are readings, not quotes, and nothing has been reported about a row between them.
He signed until June 2028, so this is not a short-term loan that went wrong. The next test is Roma away in the Champions League on Wednesday 14 October, the first European game he can play this season.
The wrong role, not the wrong player
Our editorial team thinks Bernardo's problem is where he was played, not how he plays. He was asked to be a holding midfielder in his first weeks at a new club, and the minute Güler showed he could run the attack, there was no obvious place for him. A player who spent a decade as City's link between midfield and attack will not stay happy as Madrid's 14th man; if he is still on the bench by the end of October, we expect January talk to start. If Mourinho starts him at the Olimpico, we will revisit this.
18+Play responsibly- Mundo Deportivo: La extraña situación de Bernardo Silva en el Real Madrid
- SPORT: Misterio Bernardo Silva
- Record: O estranho 'desaparecimento' de Bernardo Silva
- A Bola: Nem Real nem Seleção, Bernardo Silva atravessa 'deserto'
- El Español: Bernardo Silva, nuevo jugador del Real Madrid, a petición expresa de Mourinho