Manchester City defense attorney Ruben Dias is still optimistic about the chance of his team to win silver accessories, despite describing as his “most difficult” season.
The Pepa Guardiola detachment will take over the Royal Champions of Real Madrid in the first part of his Champions League play-offs on Tuesday.
This comes after City finished 22th in the group stage, which is now hoping to overcome current owners.
The victory over two legs would secure a place in the last 16, where they would face Atletico Madrid or Bayer Leverkusen.
However, City also encountered difficulties in his home campaign, currently in fifth place in the Premier League and the lags of Liverpool for 15 points.
“This has been the hardest season since I am here, but I am a firm believer that even in the most difficult moments you can still achieve something beautiful,” Dias said.
“I didn’t even spend a second thinking about whether not complicating” 🤷♂️
Ruben Dias was focused only on Rodra when he won the Ballon d’Or 💪#Bbcfootball pic.twitter.com/ouyvtmgc5t
– BBC Sport (@bbcSport) 10. February 2025
“We know how difficult it will be to go, but we have a lot of weapons in the locker room. We just have to use them the right way.”
This is the fourth consecutive season – and the fifth in six years – that the city and Madrid clashed in the knockout of the Champions League.
The Spanish giants secured victory in penalties in last year’s quarterfinals before continuing to request their 15th European title under Carl Ancelotti.
Since both teams won two meetings at previous meetings, Guardiola described his rivalry as one of the most significant in the Era of the Modern Champions League.
This upcoming match comes after the controversy, as Madrid players boycotted the Ballon D’Or ceremony in protest after Rodri was given the title of the world’s best player over Vinicius Jr.
The city allegedly viewed Madrid ab
“Since I’m honest with you, I didn’t spend a second thinking about it,” the Portuguese defender added.
“I was happy about Rodroda. Vinicius had an extraordinary year and also deserved it. It’s like in the past when [Lionel] Messi and Cristiano [Ronaldo] fought for that. “
