Manchester City beat Paris Saint-Germain 2-1 in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final clash on Wednesday evening and Ruben Dias was one of many players who impressed. Fans lauded his efforts at the Parc des Princes after he helped limit PSG to only one shot on target from open play.
The 23-year-old played his part in keeping Kylian Mbappe quiet on the night, stopping the French international registering a shot in 90 minutes. Only one City player made more tackles and clearances than Dias, but no player had more interceptions than the Portuguese international.
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Dias and Stones were both incredible too, we keep the faith in johnny👍
— 🧬 (@footballsayed) April 28, 2021
The transformation of the side & impact that Ruben Dias has made is astonishing. Incredible player https://t.co/vAGt5ZEab0
— Neil_K (@NK_ESQ) April 28, 2021
🤣 it’s incredible what Dias has done to this team. He and Stones were tremendous again this evening
— Dave Jefferson (@djefferson947) April 28, 2021
Ruben Dias in the last two weeks:
Pocketed Haaland
Harry Kane
Son
Mbappe
NeymarRock solid 💙💙
— SAF Amin (@AminJuzbasic) April 28, 2021
As a Liverpool fan I must say Ruben Dias has had the Van Dijk effect on City this year. The leadership, positioning, solid tackling and build up play has been indispensable for City this year. To play 45 matches and only lose 3 of them in a new team and country is remarkable
— Jacob 'Jake' Brown (@JWAB1996) April 28, 2021
Ruben Dias is world-class!
— Bat (@SparrowSachin) April 28, 2021
Another world class display from Rúben Dias at the heart of City's defence. What a player. #UCL
⚽🇫🇷🏴 pic.twitter.com/x7ra4cUDjJ
— Football Tweet (@Football__Tweet) April 28, 2021
Ruben Dias again showed why he should be FOTY; stared down Haaland, Kane, Mbappe past fortnight. Commanding v #PSG, esp 2nd half. Set tone. #mcfc kept the ball, composure and belief, thoroughly deserving to return from Paris with 2 away goals and 1 foot in the #UCL final #PSGMCI
— Henry Winter (@henrywinter) April 28, 2021
Against PSG, Dias played for 90 minutes, had 69 touches, completed 94.8% of his 58 passes, made three tackles, gave away just one foul, made two interceptions, won one freekick and made two clearances. The Portuguese international has made 48 appearances from a possible 54 this season, so he’s been indispensable to say the least.
Dias has transformed City in his debut campaign and improved players around him. John Stones has never looked better than when he’s alongside the 23-year-old and the Sky Blues seldom concede (24 goals conceded in 33 Premier League games and four goals conceded in 11 Champions League games), so he’s worth every penny.
In other news, fans say ‘class’ Kevin De Bruyne is a ‘baller’ and ‘unreal’ for Manchester City