A Manchester United star makes a painful admission about the City rivalry
Portugal's Diogo Dalot has revealed the pain he felt watching Manchester City's success, the pressure that comes with playing for United, and his determination to help bring United back to the top of English and European football.
Tribuna published Dalot's comments, which he made to ESPN, where he said: "I won't say it hasn't been painful, because it really has. There were seasons when we weren't even able to compete with them. It's painful to say that."
The full-back added: "I want to be part of the team that brings Manchester United back to the top, because that is what I watched from this club growing up. They were winning, competing, and had the best players in the world, and I want to be part of that."
He continued: "I can't speak on behalf of everyone, but what I try to do with myself is to think about what I want to achieve, and where I want to get to. When I sign for the club, I don't do it thinking that I'll leave after two or three years. I signed because this is the best place I could be. You become part of a club that can be the biggest club in the world."
On his early days at Old Trafford, he went on: "When I arrived, there were a few players who had spent a long time here, and they helped me understand things. Sometimes you go through a difficult period, but it's not as bad as you think. And sometimes people misunderstand criticism, it's not always a bad thing. Sometimes criticism is constructive, and you have to take on some responsibility."
Dalot said: "I think being here all this time makes me feel that it's my responsibility sometimes to try to help the players understand that things aren't as bad as they think, and sometimes not as good as they think. I feel this must definitely be one of my roles now."
He added: "What I've learned during my time here is that these matches change the shape of seasons. We saw an example of that last season, when we were going through a very bad period, and then the match against Manchester City came and gave us the confidence to go on a run of matches and achieve victory after victory."
He continued: "This season we haven't got the points we perhaps should have got and that we wanted, but these matches can give you that spark that makes you feel you really can move forward. There is no other match we would want to play now more than this fixture."
He stressed: "For me, the goal is to win the Premier League and the Champions League. If you look at my time here, you won't find a single occasion when we actually competed for the Premier League title until the month of May, and reached the final rounds while being in the heart of the contest."
He added: "It would perhaps be the greatest achievement of my life to be part of something that brings this club back to competing for those titles, because, quite frankly, this is where this club should be."
He concluded: "I know that if we reach that stage and get close, I think we'll build something around the club. That is what gives me the most motivation, to do everything I can to be part of that, and I hope we reach that moment."
