Pep Guardiola has suggested Rodri has suffered an injury setback following Manchester City’s elimination from the Club World Cup.
City fell to a 4-3 defeat to Saudi side Al-Hilal within the early hours of Tuesday morning, crashing out of the competition on the last 16 stage.
With the sport level after 90 minutes, Marcos Leonardo scored the winner within the 12th minute of extra-time to cause the most important shock of the competition.
Rodri has been a part of the squad out in the US having recovered from the anterior cruciate ligament injury that derailed his 2024-25 campaign, coming off the bench in City’s opening group matches.
The Spain international turned in a sublime performance against Juventus last week – his first start since September – in what was City’s best display of the summer.
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However the Premier League giants were outclassed by Al-Hilal with concern over Rodri casting a shadow.
The 29-year-old got here off the bench after 53 minutes but was replaced on the 100-minute mark.
While he didn’t elaborate, Guardiola suggested in his post-match press conference the change was enforced.
‘[Rodri [is] complaining about his injury situation.’ Guardiola said.
City led 1-0 on the break but spurned a bunch of possibilities to increase their lead with Al-Hilal scoring twice within the opening seven minutes of the first-half.
Erling Haaland, Jeremy Doku, Savinho, Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol all had possibilities to get on the rating sheet with Guardiola left to rue those mossed opportunities despite his side scoring thrice.
‘Ultimately now we have to attain and be clinical. They didn’t create much in the primary half, we did but couldn’t finish it,’ he said.
‘I had a sense we could undergo. We allow them to make transitions [but] we created lots. It’s a pity, now we have been on an incredible journey together [here] and in an excellent place.
‘The vibe was really good, I cannot thank Manchester City enough and particularly the players for training and the way they’ve been playing.’
Guardiola has previously complained of City’s bloated squad, insisting he news a smaller group to work with ahead of the 2025-26 campaign.
‘We’ve got an enormous squad and we’ll see what happens,’ he said. ‘Now it is hard but we come back in the subsequent days, rest, and begin the Premier League.’
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