Rúben Dias is the leader of Manchester City’s defence who Pep Guardiola loves to cite as the model footballer owing to the 26-year-old’s drive to burnish his elite talent via an uber-professionalism. In a team built to chase perfection this pursuit of excellence makes Dias one of Guardiola’s captains and is an inherent quality of a centre-back who was voted the Football Writers’ Association’s player of the year in 2020-21, his first season at City. “I guess I’ve always been like this, it’s the way I believe I should conduct myself and it’s the way that makes sense to me,” says Dias of percentage gains. “Definitely. Football is details and the more details you can put together the better. This is the way that makes my life have more sense and I follow through with it. “Obviously you couldn’t be in this team any other way. Although all of us have done great things, the demand is always very high. It starts mainly from the manager and the demand is always there. No matter what we do, we’ll be asked for more. You have the personal demand of everyone as well. For us to be at the top this long is because everyone has it in himself.” In Saturday’s FA Cup final Dias is expected to line up against Marcus Rashford, who in Anthony Martial’s injury-enforced absence may lead Manchester United’s front line. Dias, though, refuses to personalise the contest. “United have many threats and we know them well,” he says. “We know who can be dangerous and how they can be dangerous. Overall United are dangerous because of the team they are and not any individual. Our biggest weapon is focusing on what we can do.” If the champions defeat their crosstown rivals, the second leg of a possible treble will be completed. Given how close City are to joining United’s 1999 vintage as immortals, Dias’s sober view of their three-peat title and the challenge at Wembley, and against Internazionale in the Champions League final a week on Saturday is understandable. “We’ve not done anything yet,” he says. “We definitely know what we’re going for and we really want it. But we know if we start to think too far ahead then it will kill us. Our heads are on training. Little by little, we think. Just think and do it.” Guardiola, for a man whose management style can be viewed as distant by his players, has mastered the high-wire act of retaining the edge required from multimillionaire charges to compete still, seven years into his reign, as if their futures are at risk. Part of this is an understanding of dressing room chemistry, which means the 52-year-old allows personalities to breathe. An example: Jack Grealish and Erling Haaland teasing Dias’s gym-rat persona in their “The Biggest Fraud” award for the Portuguese’s “four-times a-day” workouts that, as a viral video clip shows, did not stop the Norwegian from brushing him aside when playing for Borussia Dortmund against City in 2021. Dias concurs: “It’s definitely important to have this team spirit. We have to be together all year and the better we get along, the better for the team. It’s good to have good people besides the good players we have.” Haaland has ransacked 52 goals in 49 games in a memorable campaign. Dias may be relieved that the heavy schedule dictates he does not mark him often in drills. “We don’t train that much, because we play every three days,” says Dias. “Training isn’t the most intense because we need to rest. But overall, yes, if you play against the best in training like Erling then you’re working yourself more for whatever you’re up against.” United finished third, a yawning 14 points behind City’s 89. In the two league derbies, Guardiola’s side hammered Erik ten Hag’s visitors 6-3 in October before January’s Old Trafford return ended as a 2-1 defeat for City. “Those points of reference will be important but it’s a new game, and a final is always different,” Dias says. “The details make the difference, they are the things that matter the most. It’s about being who we are. We’ve played them, we know their strong points and weak points. In the end it’ll be about being the very best version of ourselves. Our best chance of beating United is just by being Manchester City. It’ll be a tight game. It’s a special competition for all of us and a special competition for the country. We want to win it very much. It’s one of the biggest. The moment you start losing that fire, that spice for winning trophies then you’re not doing anything at this club. My passion is still there.” The double would be a great achievement, he says, but not enough. “We’ll celebrate it if we do and then think about what is coming because we are still not finished.” Last weekend Guardiola said Dias had not trained for 10 days, but there are no injury concerns now. “I’m on fire,” he says. “I’ve trained with the team and I’m feeling good.”