Ruben Dias has heaped praise on Rico Lewis but urged the Manchester City prodigy to keep working hard after his breakthrough display. The right-back earned a standing ovation from the Etihad when he was taken off due to cramp with a few minutes remaining and Dias was full of praise for him after the game.
Ruben Dias said: “I’ve just told him he cannot come out [with] cramp but definitely. He’s an enormous talent, he’s been with us for a long time now and I think for him to get the opportunity of playing, let’s call it the full game and to score. You can see his quality. Brilliant things from him, just need to keep working.”
Dias also explained why winning the game, even though there was nothing to play for, was so important for City.
Ruben Dias said: “We wanted one more thing not to concede. Unfortunately, we concede one but yeah, it’s one of those games. Everything’s done, everything’s settled in terms of the math of the group but still, it’s a game in which you need to perform because the rhythm is just going, the games don’t stop and for you to drop down completely is never a good idea. So especially in the second half a very good answer from the team. In this club it doesn’t matter if it’s a friendly or Champions League final, if it’s a game in a group stage when everything’s done already, we need to push each other. Same in the training. You can train in a certain way and you can train to win things and that’s just the way we do things.”
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