Guardiola was already filled with tears in that goodbye there was a space for the smile in the destroyed champion of the Premier. Rodri returned and everything for depressed citizens He seemed to return to his place: he added his consecutive party number 36 in the Premier without knowing the defeat. It may seem an anecdote because the midfielder jumped into the field with just more than ten minutes to play and the duel against the Bournemouth was resolved, but it is also a symptom because few players have such an incidence in collective performance as the second golden ball in the history of Spanish football. Since Rodri was injured Manchester City barely won 51.9% of the matches he has played.
241 days after, Rodri piloted the center of the Manchester City field. “It’s good news. He has many months left to return to his best level, but the first step has already taken it,” Guardiola valued at the end of the game. Eight months has taken Rodri to return from an injury that in many cases leaves soccer players in boxes for not less than ten months.
The last stretch of the Spanish footballer’s tuning began on April 30. That day the collective training was reincorporated and elucidated about a possible contribution in the FA Cup final played last Saturday. It was not so. A return was not precipitated, even with the perspective of a title on the table that at the end. The team still has a challenge after this Tuesday’s victory against Bournemouth: to get at least one point on visit to Fulham and ensure a place in the next Champions League. Rodri seems likely to have even more minutes next Sunday in London and the calendar also has a couple of winks more prepared to close the season on the grass: the final to four of the Nations League, with a duel between Spain and France on June 5 and an eventual end three days later; and the Club World Cup that for the City begins on June 18 in Philadelphia. In that tournament he will not be Bruyne.
To alleviate Rodri’s absence. He has not found them. Kovacic, who was expelled before the Bournemouth, has other characteristics; Gündogan has failed to shine on his return after the campaign that happened in Barcelona. And John Stones, who can align in that position ahead of the rear, has chained injuries since October. Nico González, Coruñés and son of Fran, myth of Deportivo, arrived in the winter market. But it must still curdle. However, his goal rounded the victory against the Bournemouth (3-1) after which Guardiola demanded from the club a shorter squad for the next season. “I will leave if it is not fulfilled. I cannot train 24 players and leave five or six out of a call. If we have injuries I will play with Canteranos,” he settled.
