Cool, composed and in a position to chess-move within the tight, ever-shifting zones of the elite recreation’s midfield, Rodri is a significant contender for Manchester City’s participant of the season.
In a stellar squad Erling Haaland would possibly hog the headlines but Rodri is Pep Guardiola’s ball-hogger perfect, a participant the executive may privately admit is extra important to his pass-and-move system than the 48-goal guy.
Twenty-seven mins into City’s Champions League quarter-final first leg towards Bayern Munich, Rodri illustrated why by way of showcasing every other of his glittering attributes by means of a stylish end that used to be the easiest begin to the superbly completed 4-1 mixture win.
Collecting from John Stones 25 yards out and on a good attitude from Yann Sommer’s target, the Universidad de Castellón trade management graduate switched to his left foot and despatched a fierce shot past Bayern’s keeper.
Rodri has the shape for the killer intuition and big-game temperament which can be a calling card of the most efficient. In ultimate season’s last Premier League recreation towards Aston Villa, he fired in every other long-range target as City drew stage from 2–0 down, occurring to the three–2 victory that sealed the name.
Now Guardiola’s gilded aspect are a most of 13 victories from a possible treble, and Rodri, talking in flawless English, is permitting himself to dream.
“That’s what we work for,” says the 26-year-old. “It’s a long way but the mentality is the next game. We have the FA Cup, which is very important for the club and for me as it’d be the first time I’ve won it. We have a good rival in Sheffield [United],
The semi-final is on Saturday at Wembley. Dispatch the Blades and the winner of Sunday’s Brighton-Manchester United tie awaits in May. Wednesday brings the visit of Arsenal as City seek to close a gap that could be seven points when the Premier League leaders arrive but which, if they win, plus their games in hand and remaining six, will bring a third successive title.
To keep the chance of treble-winning immortality alive, City must eliminate Real Madrid in the Champions League. Carlo Ancelotti’s holders broke City hearts at the same stage last year when a 5-3 aggregate lead was overturned by two Rodrygo goals after the second leg had entered the 90th minute and Karim Benzema’s extra-time penalty.
Rodri understands how City can be inspired by this. “Always when you have a big defeat you learn,” he says. “You have more experience. The team is going to give its best and try to make it different.
Joshua Kimmich’s late spot-kick in Munich on Wednesday canceled out Haaland’s finish and ended a run of 10 consecutive City wins. Yet this is the form required in the campaign’s defining phase, and comes after Guardiola’s men struggled to find their rhythm.
Of what changed, Rodri says: “We identified the fact that we needed to punish our rivals. The quality of the performance was there, we were playing well, but weren’t as consistent as we are now.
“Now we know that if we want to achieve everything then every game is a final and we have to win – that is the mentality. It’s something that you feel inside and how you talk with the team – we had a conversation. It’s not enough to play well, you need to punish. I remember the game in Nottingham [a 1-1 draw with Forest in February], these kind of games cannot happen.
“Sometimes when you have bad news or bad moments, it can make you grow. You can learn. From that moment we switched on and you see it now, the behavior and the character of the team. That is where we have improved: to finish the games. You’ve seen it in the last months that almost every chance we score.”
For all their silken stuff, City are a muscular, determined force too, as embodied by the 6ft 3in Rodri, who says: “The basics in modern football right now are that you have to be aggressive, you have to be solid. Look at Erling and Kevin [De Bruyne]they made a great effort [against Bayern], You don’t see players of this quality running the way they do. It’s the key to success.”
Nathan Aké confirms City’s new grit. “Games like this maybe before we didn’t like to be defending as much and struggling as much,” he says. “But we knew this was going to be tough and we accepted it and suffered”
The sole fear to emerge from Bayern’s coaching is a possible hamstring harm to Ake, who has turn out to be a part of Guardiola’s common defence. “I hope it’s not too bad,” he says. “I’ve had it before and it feels a bit less to be honest, but you never know with these things so we will do the ultrasounds.”
City are two months from the possible glory of saying the FA Cup, Premier League and Champions League. To have any likelihood of constructing this an all-time season Rodri, for sure, has to stick have compatibility.