Guardiola believes Rodri getting back to Ballon d’Or best | OneFootball

Pep Guardiola believes Manchester City midfielder Rodri is finally getting back to his best after returning from a serious ACL injury.

Rodri’s 2024-25 campaign was decimated by a serious knee injury, with the Spaniard not returning until the final weeks of the campaign.

The 29-year-old’s long absence came just months after the pinnacle of his career to date, with the midfielder helping Manchester City to Premier League title success, winning the European Championship with Spain, and being named winner of the Ballon d’Or.

Rodri’s return has been carefully managed this season but the City star has shown encouraging signs in recent games.

Speaking ahead of tomorrow’s FA Cup tie at Newcastle, Guardiola told the media that he believes Rodri is back near his old self.

“Finally it’s happening like we wanted it to a long time ago when he came back. He has made a step back [towards his old self] and has had a consistent routine of play, play, play.

“But now we play a lot of games in March, some of which long travels away. There is fatigue involved. We travel to Madrid and afterwards come back and travel to London, which is four or five hours to travel to the hotel.

“So we have to use all the squad, otherwise it will not be possible to play in the rhythm we want to play. Step-by-step he is getting better. Everybody knows it.”

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