Bernardo Silva has suggested that Manchester City are currently in a "dark place" after the demolition job issued by Sporting Lisbon on Tuesday night.
Defeat in the UEFA Champions League means that Pep Guardiola and his players have now lost three consecutive matches across competitions for the first time since April 2018, when a double-header against Liverpool in Europe was added to by a home Manchester derby loss.
The defeat in Portugal also means that Manchester City are left with one opportunity to put things right before the international break as they travel to an in-form Brighton & Hove Albion side this weekend in the Premier League.
A Carabao Cup exit at the hands of Tottenham has been played down by many at the club, with Pep Guardiola insisting on a strong performance in north London, whilst the loss at Bournemouth has been of most concern.
Speaking to TNT Sports after the 4-1 defeat in the Portuguese capital, Bernardo Silva suggested that "everything" looks to be going wrong for Manchester City at the moment, with the first-team set-up in a "dark place" at present.
"We're in a bit of a dark place right now, and everything looks to be going in the wrong way. Even when we play well we don't score our chances, and we concede too easily," Bernardo Silva admitted.
"So definitely we need to look inside to check what we're not doing well and start being better very quickly otherwise it will be difficult to come back from these losses."
The Portugal international was largely unable to explain the situation and deepening concerns around the performances and results at present by saying, "It's difficult to find reasons for what is happening right now to us.
"I don't remember in seven-and-a-half seasons this team losing three games in a row, and it just looks like everything is going in the wrong way right now."
He continued, "We need to do better, obviously. We need to do better. Our injured players need to come back because we need them. And it's just not good enough at the minute!"
The only positive for Bernardo Silva and for Manchester City remains that the season is still young, and the 30-year-old was keen to highlight that fact after the contest in Lisbon.
"Even though we lost three games (in a row), we're still in a good position, especially in the Premier League and in the Champions League. We haven't lost anything even after losing three games, we're still in the main competitions, still fighting for everything."
Manchester City's outing against Sporting actually started in largely positive fashion, going ahead inside five minutes thanks to some fine work from Phil Foden, only to be responded by Viktor Gyokeres later in the first-half.
The Swedish forward would score a further two goals in the second 45 minutes alongside a goal from Maximiliano Araujo inside the opening 30 seconds after the break in a worst possible start for Manchester City.