‘A very wise man once said to me,’ Ruben Dias starts. This is bound to be good. ‘He said to me that we didn’t lose the final, we just got one step closer.’
Dias would not divulge who the identity of the wise man, so we are left to assume that it was not in fact a higher power or the Manchester City defender reciting a leadership book designed for middle management.
Whoever it may have been – dad, agent, boss - it is a point that will hold resonance within the City squad.