{"id":637726,"date":"2024-03-22T16:07:45","date_gmt":"2024-03-22T20:07:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/?p=637726"},"modified":"2024-03-22T16:07:45","modified_gmt":"2024-03-22T20:07:45","slug":"manchester-city-squad-portugal-bernardo-silva-ruben-dias","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2024\/03\/22\/manchester-city-squad-portugal-bernardo-silva-ruben-dias\/","title":{"rendered":"Manchester City Handed Massive Squad Boost After Surprise Portugal Decision"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Eight players have been excluded from Portugal\u2019s squad ahead of their friendly match against Slovenia, with Ruben Dias and Bernardo Silva set to return to Manchester City. Roberto Martinez\u2019s side are set to play the game without their usual starters.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Manchester City Pair Secure Early Return From International Duty<\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Portugal\u2019s Incredible Form<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Portugal have claimed 11 consecutive victories since hiring Roberto Martinez as their manager in January last year. They have scored a staggering 44 goals, reaching the Euro 2024 as group leaders.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Read More<\/span><\/strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">:\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2024\/03\/06\/erling-haaland-reacts-missing-biggest-chance\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Erling Haaland Reacts To Missing \u201cBiggest Chance In The World\u201d Against Manchester United<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">On Thursday, Portugal defeated Sweden 5-2 with a lineup that included most of their regular starters. However, Martinez has decided to take a different approach for his side\u2019s upcoming friendly game against Slovenia on Tuesday.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Bernardo Silva and Ruben Dias Leave Portugal Camp Early?<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Cristiano Ronaldo was the first player to be given rest time during the international break. Martinez avoided calling up his side\u2019s captain after a hectic AFC Champions League campaign with Al Nassr. The manager released eight more players from the national team\u2019s camp on Friday.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Read More<\/span><\/strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">:\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2024\/02\/27\/manchester-city-oscar-bobb-contract-extension\/#:~:text='Superb%20Natural%20Talent'%3A%20Manchester,for%20Emerging%20Premier%20League%20Talent&amp;text=Manchester%20City%20have%20secured%20the,V%C3%A5lerenga%20for%20an%20undisclosed%20fee.\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Manchester City Agree Contract Extension For Emerging Premier League Talent<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Bernardo Silva, Ruben Dias, Joao Palhinha, Nelson Semedo, Toti Gomes, Rafael Leao, Goncalo Ramos, and Bruno Fernandes are\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/FabrizioRomano\/status\/1771146284490953022?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">allowed<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0to return to their respective clubs. Portugal are expected to play younger players in their next friendly fixture against Slovenia.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Watch<\/span><\/strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">: Who Wins The Premier League?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"THREE WAY WAR - Who Wins The Premier League?\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/6XQStPx9Lw0?start=330&#038;feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Man City Prepare for Decisive April Schedule<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Silva and Dias\u2019s return from Portugal\u2019s camp is excellent news for Manchester City, who are preparing for the final phase of the season.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Pep Guardiola is expected to have a full squad at his disposal by the time the Citizens take on Arsenal on March 31. Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland, who are both out with minor injuries, are set to regain full fitness before the game.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Read More<\/span><\/strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">:\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2024\/02\/11\/pep-guardiola-kalvin-phillips\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Revealed: Real Reason \u2018Overweight\u2019 \u00a342 Million Midfielder Left Citizens<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Following their match against Arsenal, City will face Aston Villa and Crystal Palace in the Premier League before meeting Real Madrid in a crucial Champions League clash on April 9.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">A league match against Luton Town precedes the second-leg fixture against Real Madrid and a home game against Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-finals. The Citizens\u2019 brutal schedule in April ends with a match against Nottingham Forest at the City Ground.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Eight players have been excluded from Portugal\u2019s squad ahead of their friendly match against Slovenia, with Ruben Dias and Bernardo Silva set to return to Manchester City. Roberto Martinez\u2019s side are set to play the game without their usual starters. Manchester City Pair Secure Early Return From International Duty Portugal\u2019s Incredible Form Portugal have claimed [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5073,"featured_media":629588,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[161,17,3],"tags":[963,181,688,2331,3536],"class_list":["post-637726","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international-football","category-manchester-city","category-premier-league","tag-bernardo-silva","tag-pep-guardiola","tag-portugal","tag-roberto-martinez","tag-ruben-dias"],"modified_by":"Ricky Carroll, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/637726","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5073"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=637726"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/637726\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/629588"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=637726"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=637726"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=637726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}