A Real distraction! Silva hopes Man Utd will take their eye off the league

David Silva believes Manchester City’s premature Champions League exit could work in their favour in the title race.

The Citizens were dumped out of Europe’s premier club competition at the group stage for the second season running back in December after finishing bottom of Group D.

United maintained their seven-point lead at the top of the table with a 2-1 win over Liverpool on Sunday, while City kept pace with victory at Arsenal.

And Spain midfielder Silva is hoping next month’s blockbuster clash with Real Madrid in the Champions League last 16 will prove to be a distraction for Sir Alex Ferguson’s men in the title race.

“That could be an advantage for us, because they have an important game against Real, and we only have the league to think about,” said Silva.

Silva has warned his team-mates, however, that they can ill afford to drop any more points.

The 27-year-old added: “The important thing is the next game. We talk about the game that we have coming up and we hope that they blow it, because it will let us be closer.

“If we lose, then suddenly the gap is 10 points, and that is when it gets really difficult. But if we keep fighting, we hope that they will falter.

“All we can do, whatever the gap is, is keep going, every game, and put them under the pressure of knowing that if they lose a game or drop any points, we will get closer to them.

“That works the other way, of course, too, because if we lose we will get further away, but we cannot think about that. We just have to continue as we are. The league is still there to be won.”

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