Rodri’s personality will be crucial during run in, says Guardiola | OneFootball

Pep Guardiola says Rodri will be pivotal to City’s hopes in the final few months of the 2025/26 season.

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City are still in the hunt for all four major honours, with a Carabao Cup final to come next month while being handily placed in the Premier League and safely through the Champions League and FA Cup so far.

Rodri has featured across all competitions while continuing the final stages of his recovery from a knee injury sustained in September 2024.

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Guardiola has acknowledged that the Spain international hasn’t yet hit the heights that saw him win the 2024 Ballon d’Or, but insisted that his character has already been a benefit to the side.

With so much to play for before the end of the campaign, Pep says Rodri’s spirit will help drive the side on as he has done in the past.

“Rodri is Rodri. At his age he’s wiser and understands the game,” he said.

“There are players like Phil that say when he’s on the pitch, he’s not just a mate, he’s a manager and we are better, we feel better. That is experience and timing.

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“There are players who are defined on bigger stages in difficulties and Rodri is one of them. Like Bernie [Bernardo Silva], Ruben [Dias] and many I had in the past.

“That defines the biggest teams and clubs. We can’t achieve what we have without huge personalities.

“We have seasons and we don’t win 5-0 every weekend. This is a fairytale. People say how good are Man City won a lot of 1-0 games playing rubbish.

“But the personality is there, how they handle this moment comes from them. That’s why we had success.”

Having joined City in 2019 and been a linchpin to some of our biggest ever successes, Rodri is well versed in what Guardiola expects of his players.

With a fresh squad after a raft of new signings in recent transfer windows, Pep is clear on the importance of having experienced players who understand his methods intuitively.

“I have to tell them less because we’ve had 1000 million meetings and games we’ve had together,” he said.

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“They can analyse what we’ve done good and bad. I feel meetings now they say ‘Pep, you talk about this same subject?’.

“But there are new players and new details. How many times Rodri and Bernardo play Eddie Howe’s Newcastle?

“Of course, now Gordon is a striker before he was a winger. Woltemade, Wissa and Gordon as the striker so it’s details but know how they will play.”

After making an initial return at the FIFA Club World Cup last summer, Rodri then had to sit out another period through November and December with a hamstring injury.

However, the Spaniard is now putting together a run of games, playing the full 90 minutes in five of our last seven Premier League fixtures.

Guardiola said he was reintroduced too soon first time around, but that the patience to help him recover fully now appears to be paying off.

“We came back too early,” said the boss.

“Our desire to get him back and him. We came back too early and that’s why it was long.

“It was a good lesson. Human has a process, time to recover and others can do it earlier like a Bernardo or Phil and others need more time.

“That’s why it’s 18 months now but he came back earlier. He played at the World Cup and needed more time.

“Still not his best but his mood and how he’s training, he’s a special player.”

Be at City v Nottingham Forest!

We welcome Forest to the Etihad Stadium at 19:30 (UK) on Wednesday 4 March.

And you can be there to see it as Pep Guardiola’s City continue to chase Premier League glory.

Tickets for this game are now on sale to all fans, starting from just £43 for adults and £23 for U18s.

Or, if you fancy something more special, hospitality packages start from just £199 with other experiences tailored for every budget!

Buy your City v Forest tickets here!