Manuel Akanji was denied the chance to face Cristiano Ronaldo in the Manchester derby earlier this season as the former Manchester United forward remained on the bench during Manchester City's ruthless in a 6-3 victory.
Akanji has been in fine form since joining City for just £15m in the summer, and has taken that rhythm into the World Cup as he's helped Switzerland navigate the group stages to set up an intriguing last-16 clash with Portugal.
The centre-back will come up against three City teammates in Ruben Dias, Joao Cancelo and Bernardo Silva, while he will also get the chance to try and stop Ronaldo, who has since left United in disgrace after a controversial interview with Piers Morgan. And Akanji feels Ronaldo will still pose a huge threat to Switzerland despite his struggles at United.
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Discussing how Switzerland will try to stop Ronaldo, Akanji explained how keeping him away from goal will be key - knowing Ronaldo has scored five goals in his last two clashes with the Swiss.
Akanji said: "Even though he's older now, he's an incredible goal machine. You can't give him any space in the penalty area. When he gets to the ball, the ball is usually inside. You have to be very close to him."
Switzerland booked a place in the last 16 after beating Serbia in their final group game, knowing defeat would have sent the Serbs through instead. The 3-2 win saw plenty of flashpoints, with 11 yellow cards issued, and Akanji explained how he tried to act as a calming influence on his teammates knowing Portugal were waiting in the last 16.
He said: "The Serbs wanted to provoke us. They said a few things right from the start and then a few things came back. So I'm very, very happy that we won and they can now go on holiday.
"I stood on the halfway line, ran forward and tried to calm the players down. I said to my teammates: We're going to the round of 16, we can't get any stupid yellow or red cards. That only weakens us. They have nothing left to lose."
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