When players talk about difficult opponents they have faced, many choose the likes of Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland - but for Everton defender Vitaliy Mykolenko, it's another one of Manchester City's stars.

City have some amazing players right now, many of whom must be incredibly hard to play against.

You've got Kevin De Bruyne, arguably one of the greatest Premier League players in history and a creative force.

There's Erling Haaland, who is a lethal goalscorer and an absolute bully of a centre-forward - just ask Jarrad Branthwaite and others.

Kyle Walker is also someone plenty of wingers - like Gabriel Martinelli and Willian - find hard to play against.

But for Mykolenko, Bernardo Silva is one of the hardest players he's faced in the Premier League...

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Mykolenko actually picked three - Mo Salah, Bukayo Saka and City's Bernardo Silva.

Asked to pick only one, the 24-year-old opted for Liverpool superstar Salah, which is perhaps understandable given how many goals and assists the Egyptian has scored over the years for the Reds.

But the acknowledgment was there for Bernardo, who has come across Mykolenko five times in his career so far.

Bernardo has faced Mykolenko three times in games between City and Everton, with the Portuguese winning two and drawing one.

Back in the 2018/19 season, Bernardo also played a couple of European qualifiers for Portugal against Ukraine with Mykolenko in the team.

Bernardo must be a nightmare to play against It is nice to hear someone mentioning Bernardo in a conversation about tough opponents - because he must be a genuine nightmare to come up against.

Being a left-back, Mykolenko has had a few battles now with Bernardo and will have a good gauge of what he is like to try and deal with.

Bernardo is an incredible dribbler and a player with amazing ball control. He is so hard to get the ball off and it must be very difficult for full-backs to tackle him.

But it's not only that with City's Portuguese magician.

The PS300,000-a-week star is absolutely relentless when he plays and is one of the team's best pressers. For all his technical brilliance, he is very often the player who works his socks off the most, and that again must make him a very tough opponent for anyone.