Ruben Dias makes ‘strange’ Joao Cancelo admission ahead of Man City vs Bayern Munich

Ruben Dias has admitted it will be ‘strange’ to face Joao Cancelo on Tuesday night when Manchester City take on Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

Cancelo joined Bayern on loan from City in January and has played 12 times for the German champions. Uefa regulations mean the Portugal defender can play against his parent club, and he is expected to start at the Etihad in Tuesday’s first leg.

Dias, who is Cancelo’s international colleague, said it will feel odd to come up against the 28-year-old.

“I must confess it will be strange because not very long ago we were fighting together, but it is what it is,” said Dias. “It is football, it is the life we live. Decisions have been made and it will be good to play against him and to see him again.

“After our time here together we built a close relationship, especially me, him and Bernardo [Silva] and we are always in touch. We have been in contact, but when the game starts each one of us will be on his own side.”

Dias and his City team-mates are hoping to win a first Champions League title this season, after coming up short in all of the last six campaigns under Pep Guardiola.

“We have done very well but it is not enough. In the end, either you do it nor not. We are very aware of that we know we still have a lot to do,” Dias confessed on Monday, before reflecting on the 2021 final defeat to Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea.

“Like a very wise man once said to me, we didn’t lose the final, we just got one step closer. That is the only way to see it if you want to keep pursuing it. Every year is about us getting closer and closer and steps forward and making our name be more and more loud.

“I think the anger is the same as always,” he added. It is a special competition and especially for us, we really want to be in it and wan to see it through. It will be a very difficult match but it’s what this competition is all about: big games and going through and beating the best. That’s where we are and we’re happy to be here.

“All of us have a special feeling, a special taste when it comes to this stage. Now is the time to be together and to be producing and to be out on the pitch doing what we can do best, everyone of us. This is moment to go through or not. Like I said before, I think our team is fed by these moments and I think that is a very good characteristic to have.”