Pep Guardiola admits Rodri injury ‘a scare’ for Manchester City
Manchester City midfielder Rodri was forced off in the second half of City’s 4-0 Club World Cup final win against Fluminense.
The South American champion star Aleksander injured Rodri with an ugly tackle from behind with the Man City star later labelling it “one of the worst tackles of his career”.
“It was a scare,” said Pep Guardiola after the win in Jeddah.
“We’ll see in the next days how he reacts.”
Rodri tried his best to continue playing after that tackle but after failing to cope with the pain, he was replaced by Manuel Akanji in the 74th minute of the match.
Speaking to Sky Sports after the match, Rodri admitted:
“I was very lucky today. It was one of the worst tackles in my career.
“I was so scared because I felt my knee but fortunately it was nothing, I said to the player: ‘You cannot do these kind of actions.’
“Today, I won more than a trophy. I go home safe but I was very close to crying. I felt very worried but it is nothing.”
Rodri claimed he will be fit for Manchester City’s next Premier League match against Everton.
With Man City losing all four matches in Rodri’s absence this season, they cannot afford to play without him and lose more ground on Arsenal and Liverpool in the Premier League title race.
The Spanish star missed City’s defeats against Wolves, Arsenal and Aston Villa with a suspension while he also sat out the defeat against Newcastle United in the League Cup.
This season has proved Rodri is just as important for Man City’s success as Erling Haaland or Kevin de Bruyne.
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