CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Why is Rodri not playing for Manchester City today against Slovan Bratislava in the Champions League?
Pep Guardiola’s side are looking to bounce back from consecutive draws in the Premier League but have injury issues in midfield.
Manchester City were eliminated at the quarter-final stage of the 2023/24 Champions League but they will be among the favourites to reclaim the European crown this time around.
Pep Guardiola’s men are just one point off the top of the Premier League and boast an in-form Erling Haaland, one of the most frightening sights for opposition defences. However they will be without key midfielder Rodri for the foreseeable future after a Spaniard picked up a season-ending knee injury in the draw against Arsenal.
“He had surgery this morning - ACL and some meniscus, so next season he will be here. This season is over,” Guardiola said of Rodri on Friday. “We got the worst but it is what it is.”
“Sometimes, unfortunately, it happens. We are there to support him. Good recovery, step by step and we move forward.”
Manchester City injury list could cause problems
Guardiola is known to prefer working with a small squad, allowing him to give regular minutes to a tighter group of elite players. That has served City well in recent years but this tendency can leave them short on options when they suffer injuries.
Rodri is not the only player out for the game against Slovan Bratislavia. Fellow midfielders Oscar Bobb and Kevin de Bruyne are also not named in the matchday squad and appear unlikely to return before the October international break.
Defender Nathan Ake is in the process of recovering from a thigh injury sustained in the September international break and looks set to spend a few more weeks on the sideline.
“He’s injured. I think it will be until the next international break,” Guardiola said of the injury to Ake. “We are unlucky with Nathan and the national team. Every time he goes there he comes back injured.”