Last season was simply horribly bad for Manchester City. It was admittedly a Champions League ticket and an FA Cup final, but a season without titles and an exit from the Champions League before the fun starts, that should not happen on Pep Guardiola’s watch. Some point to a single player when explaining the downturn. With Rodri on the pitch, City almost never lose, last season the Ballon d’Or winner was out with a long-term injury. So when Guardiola gives an update on the Spanish European champion’s injury situation, City fans are not a little worried.
Rodri was back in the matchday squad for the last few games of last season, played seven minutes, then the game against Saudi Arabian club in the World Cup, here it said “taste” and back on the injury bench. After nine months out, this was a real downer. Now Guardiola tells what the supporters can expect from the Spaniard going forward. Or rather, don’t expect.
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“Rodri is getting better, but he got a nasty injury against Al Hilal. He has trained better in the last few days, hopefully he will be properly injury-free after the international break,” Guardiola begins, according to the Manchester Evening News.
And then?
“Hopefully he can play some minutes in the coming games, but the most important thing is that he is not in pain – we don’t want Rodri to come back with an injury. We are desperately trying to avoid it. He’s been training with us for the last two sessions, and that’s good,” says the City manager.
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Is it just us, or does it sound like Rodri can’t “save” City this season either?
