City were beaten by the Saudis 4-3 in extra-time in the biggest upset of the tournament so far.
Bernardo said at the final whistle: “We had a lot of ambition for this competition; we wanted to get really far. I think the team was playing well, so we are very disappointed.
“We play to win trophies, and when we don’t win, we are always disappointed; it’s never enough.
“But the guys that are inside (the changing room) know that we’ve improved and we’re improving a lot.
“We’re starting to feel the team back, the atmosphere in the dressing room, the energy and even the way we play. I think there has been some improvement.
“We’re not totally happy because we wanted to do much better, but we are starting to feel some good energy back from the team to go back to our level.”