Manchester City midfielder Bernardo Silva has hit back at Liverpool fans that reveled in the club's shock Champions League defeat by Lyon, calling their behaviour "pathetic".
Despite being heavy favourites to follow up their 4-2 aggregate last-16 win over Real Madrid by sealing a heavyweight semi-final showdown with prolific Bayern Munich, Pep Guardiola's side came unstuck in a 3-1 loss on Saturday night in the final one-legged last-eight tie in Lisbon.
A brace from Moussa Dembele - the second of which came in the aftermath of a glaring miss from Raheem Sterling - after Kevin De Bruyne had cancelled out Maxwel Cornet's opener at the Estadio Jose Alvalade condemned City to a third successive quarter-final exit from Europe's premier club competition.
Such a miserable evening compounded a thoroughly disappointing 2019/20 campaign for last season's domestic treble winners, who retained the Carabao Cup but finished 18 points behind champions Liverpool in the Premier League title race and also lost to Arsenal in the FA Cup semi-finals at Wembley.
In Pictures | Man City vs Lyon, Champions League | 15/08/2020
Bernardo Silva - initially thought to be vying with Riyad Mahrez and Phil Foden for a place on City's right flank in his native Portugal, until Guardiola pulled a tactical surprise that resulted in several attacking players being left on the bench - remained an unused substitute against Lyon.
However, the 26-year-old was a regular throughout the season, making 52 appearances across all competitions, and did not take kindly to some Liverpool fans seemingly gloating about Saturday's result in messages to his Twitter account.
"The 2019/2020 season has ended for us in a very disappointing way," Bernardo tweeted on Sunday.
"To all the fans, we’re sorry for this frustrating season. The only thing we can promise is that in 2020/2021 we’ll fight a lot to do much better and get back to winning important things for you guys!"
He added: "And to all Liverpool fans that have nothing else to do than to come to a Man City player account, I’m also sorry for you but for the wrong reasons...pathetic... go celebrate your titles, or try to find a partner, drink a beer with a friend, read a book..so many options!"
