Bernardo Silva is the new Portugal captain. At Real Madrid, he is barely starting.

Speaking at a pre-match press conference before Portugal’s UEFA Nations League tie with Denmark, the 32-year-old admitted the opening months of his Madrid career had been difficult, as reported by Yahoo Sports. He has made seven La Liga starts this season, a count that stands in sharp contrast to a career built on being first-choice everywhere he has played.

“It’s always difficult. We all want to play, we all want to be useful,” Silva said.

He noted that a squad of 27 players could only ever leave 11 on the pitch, and insisted he would keep trying to improve and help the team.

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Mourinho has moved him into a link role

Silva joined Madrid on a free transfer from Manchester City on 17 June 2026, signing a two-year contract after nine seasons and six Premier League titles in Manchester. The move came together in roughly 36 hours once José Mourinho made serious contact, with Barcelona and Atlético Madrid also beaten to his signature.

The role he has been handed, however, is not the attacking creator he was at City or Monaco. Mourinho uses him deeper, as a link between defence and attack, a midfielder who controls circulation rather than one who carries the ball into the final third.

Silva told reporters in September that Mourinho wants him to help build the play and give the team more fluidity so it can move forward with the ball.

At the Portugal press conference he described how his own game had changed.

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“Now I’m more conservative, more thoughtful, very different than I was 10 years ago,” Silva said.

A night in Braga that ended on the treatment table

Silva did not start against Denmark the following evening. He came off the bench in Portugal’s 4-1 defeat at the Estádio Municipal de Braga on Saturday, 14 November, and scored a 93rd-minute consolation in an 11-minute cameo. The result cost Portugal the chance to clinch top spot in their Nations League group.

A day later the Portuguese Federation confirmed Silva was leaving camp after being deemed unfit at a clinical evaluation. He is returning to Madrid for tests, with no timeline set for his return.

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