On the evening of March 4, Beijing time, Manchester City manager Guardiola confirmed at the pre-match press conference with Manchester United that the team's defensive core Ruben Díaz was injured and would miss 4-6 weeks. This means that the Portugal international not only missed all of Manchester City's matches this month, including the Manchester City derby, but also basically missed to represent the Portuguese national team in the World Cup European Play-offs at the end of this month.
In this week's FA Cup match between Manchester City and St. Petersburg United, the starting Ruben Díaz was replaced at half-time. After examination, his injuries were not optimistic. Will be away from the field for at least 1 month, or even 6 weeks to recover.
As City's top centre-back who spent €68 million on a transfer fee in September 2020, Ruben Díaz is City's absolute workhorse. He has made 34 appearances for City this season, scoring 2 goals and 4 assists, including 2 goals in 25 Premier League appearances.
With his absence due to injury, the Premier League title race this season has undoubtedly increased in suspense. Currently defending champions Manchester City lead The Second Place Liverpool by 6 points in one round, considering that the Reds have been in hot form recently, Manchester City, which lacks a defensive core, can withstand Liverpool's menacing impact, which is undoubtedly a question.
The serious injury to Ruben Díaz not only affected Manchester City's Premier League title race, but also had a considerable impact on whether the Portuguese men's football team could enter the World Cup. On the 25th of this month, Portugal will face Turkey in the World Preliminary Round play-offs, and if it wins, it will then compete with the winners of Italy and North Macedonia for a Ticket to the World Cup.
Without the defender's needle, the Portuguese men's football team can only hope that the recent downturn in form of C Ronaldo can break out again, help the team to get through the danger, and eliminate the European Championship champion Italy.