“There’s a lot of talk and noise” – Ruben Dias sends Real Madrid rallying call to Manchester City teammates | OneFootball

Manchester City defender Ruben Dias has previewed the upcoming UEFA Champions League Round of 16 tie against Real Madrid.

Dias was rested at the weekend as City returned to winning ways by coming from behind to secure an impressive 3-1 victory over Newcastle United at St. James’ Park – progressing to the FA Cup quarter-final.

An unprecedented quadruple is still on for the Blues, whose Premier League title hopes suffered a major blow last week by a 2-2 draw at home to Nottingham Forest – as league leaders Arsenal won away at Brighton to extend their lead at the top to seven points.

City face Arsenal in the Carabao Cup final on March 22 – a game that will see Guardiola in the dugout at Wembley despite the Catalan receiving a two-game touchline ban after picking up a sixth yellow card in domestic competitions this season against Newcastle United on Saturday.

What has Ruben Dias said ahead of the opening leg between Real Madrid and Manchester City?

Dias, part of Manchester City’s captaincy group – also including club captain Bernardo Silva, Rodri and Erling Haaland – has previewed the first leg of the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 tie against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu.

City are set to face off against the La Liga giants for the 12th and 13th times in the last seven UEFA Champions League seasons, having already beaten Real Madrid on their own patch in the group-stage of the competition this season in December 2025.

In conversation with DAZN Portugal, the 28-year-old said: “It already feels like a league game! But it is the Champions League,” as relayed by Sport Witness.

However, it will be business as usual for Dias and co against the most successful side in the competition. “At the end of the day, when we are kids, we all dream of playing in the Champions League to play matches like this,” the centre-half added.

How have Manchester City been performing leading to the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 tie?

City have turned a corner after a poor start to 2026 and saw their winning run across all competitions end at six against Nottingham Forest last week – before overturning a poor start at St. James’ Park and beating Newcastle United for the fourth time this season at the weekend.

The Blues remain at a nascent stage of their transition under director of football Hugo Viana and despite the odds stacked against them in the Premier League title race, Dias is keen on leading a new-look Manchester City dressing room to a successful finish to the season.

“There’s a lot of talk and noise but at the end of the day, that noise counts for very little,” Dias said. “I think maybe in the first three games, there was a phase of adaptation we had to react to in a very positive way. From then, the team has been strong and consistent.”

“I hear a lot about some kind of shift at some point in the season, but I don’t remember any moment being bad. We’ve progressed consistently from the beginning. We still have a lot of potential to reach and I think we’re exactly where we want to be.”

How will Pep Guardiola field his starting XI at the Santiago Bernabeu?

Guardiola made a whopping 10 changes to his lineup for the FA Cup fifth round win over Newcastle as Matheus Nunes was the sole starter who retained his place from the draw against Forest, with Erling Haaland missing the trip entirely to keep him well-rested for Real Madrid.

City are expected to revert to their strongest XI in the Spanish capital and after returning to the lineup against Newcastle on Saturday, Nico O’Reilly will be vying for another start after scoring the winner against Real Madrid on their own patch earlier this season.

In addition to Haaland – who is expected to shake off the damage caused by a training ground tackle from Mateo Kovacic – each of Antoine Semenyo, Bernardo Silva, Rodri, Marc Guehi and Gianluigi Donnarumma is expected to start for Manchester City on Wednesday night.

Despite Real Madrid missing a series of crucial attackers, Dias and Guehi will have to be at their absolute best to thwart the attacking threat posed by Alvaro Arbeloa’s men as Manchester City embark on a season-defining run of games over the the next fortnight.