Manchester City are very familiar with Real Madrid and the players they have at their disposal.
The two sides have faced off against each other in the three previous Champions League tournaments.
Some of the more notable games in this period are the 4-0 win for City against Carlo Ancelotti’s side at the Etihad Stadium in the 2022/23 season and the 3-3 draw at the Santiago Bernabeu last term.
Across both squads, numerous players are currently featuring for their countries in the 2024 European Championship.
Now though, one pundit has shared his verdict on who he thinks is better out of two particular players – one of which plays for City and the other for Real.
Ashley Williams picks Real Madrid player over Ruben Dias
In a recent video shared on the BBC Sport TikTok channel, Ashley Williams was taking part in a winner-stays-on challenge involving some of the top centre-backs currently playing in the Euros.
When asked to pick who he thinks is better between Ruben Dias and Antonio Rudiger, Williams picked the Real defender over City’s Portuguese star.
After making 203 appearances for Chelsea between 2017 and 2022, the German has gone on to make 101 appearances for Real, where he’s won one La Liga title and one Champions League.
Since City signed Dias from Benfica in 2020 for a fee of £65m, the 27-year-old has made 178 appearances for Pep Guardiola’s side across all competitions, winning four Premier League trophies and one Champions League title.
Dias vs Rudiger
Looking back over the duo’s latest individual domestic campaigns, Dias featured in three fewer league games than Rudiger but still managed to rack up more successful tackles (20 vs 15), blocks (32 vs 27) and interceptions (30 vs 11) than the Germany international.
In fact, back in May, Bernardo Silva highlighted Dias as being vitally important for City based on his defensive qualities.
While both centre-backs are undoubtedly two of the best in Europe right now based on what they’ve won for their clubs, we feel that a lot of City supporters will disagree with Williams in regards to him picking Rudiger over Dias.