Guardiola revealed the schedule is the worst after Rodri said he needs rest

Pep Guardiola has reiterated that the schedule is the worst it’s ever been after Rodri stated that he was in need of a rest this week.

Manchester City, who face Luton Town tomorrow, will not have a free midweek until the end of the season if they prevail against Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-final.

Rodri was animated as he suggested that it was time for him to sit a game out as City’s fixture list piles up and Guardiola claimed he is yet to decide whether that will be afforded to him this weekend.

‘Absolutely (it’s worse),’ Guardiola said. ‘Completely right. It’s getting worse and worse and worse.

‘I didn't speak with Rodri but if he needs a rest he will have rest. Or no. I don’t know. I have the feeling that the games when he was tired like against Crystal Palace and Madrid, he was better in the second half.

‘He runs more and was more precise in the second half than the first. More than the physicality, it is a case of expending mental energy. Playing every three days, three days.

‘Of course he's tired, playing a lot of minutes. Rodri is so important for us and we’ll decide tomorrow what we have to do.’

Guardiola added: ‘If a player doesn’t want to play then he’s not going to play. Simple. Another one will play. If he’s exhausted, it can happen and another player is going to play.

‘It's not just Rodri. I’d love to rest central defenders but we don’t have them. In the [international] friendly games they were injured and we are in big, big trouble. So they cannot rest.’

Guardiola also defended Erling Haaland after the striker was again peppered by criticism from the likes of Roy Keane and Jamie Carragher, the latter labelling the Norwegian a luxury player who needs to improve if he is to win the Ballon d’Or.

‘He’s a