Rodri‘s injury nightmares continued on Sunday as the midfielder was substituted in the 21st minute of Manchester City‘s Premier League win away at Brentford.
The 29-year-old underwent surgery to repair the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee after he suffered the issue — which also affected the miniscus — in a Premier League clash with Arsenal in September 2024.
After initially returning to action at the end of last season, Rodri has been building up his fitness in recent weeks as he bids to return to the form that saw him win the Ballon d’Or last year.
Rodri received treatment on the pitch at the Gtech Stadium after overstretching as he attempted to control the ball and could be seen shaking his head in disappointment before being replaced by Nico González.
City are used to having to cope in Rodri’s absence and they did so again as Erling Haaland‘s ninth-minute goal proved enough for them to earn all three points via a 1-0 victory in west London.
Speaking on Friday ahead of the game in west London, City boss Pep Guardiola warned it could take most of the season for Rodri to get back to his best.
Rodri played an hour of Wednesday’s 2-2 Champions League draw in Monaco after sitting out City’s two previous fixtures, with Guardiola having to carefully manage his star midfielder.
“Rodri has been and is an outstanding player,” Guardiola said. “Everybody knows it. But I said to Rodri, and maybe he struggled to understand: it’s not about six months or seven months [after the injury]. ‘Ah, [after] eight months I’ll play and be the Rodri of before.’ No.
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“Rodri will be good at the World Cup with Spain [next summer]. In the World Cup it will be the best Rodri and next season will be the best Rodri. This season will be how we handle it, step by step.
“It’s normal, it was one year on the massage table. The body changes, the rhythm changes. It’s a question of time. If he’s healthy and works with what he has to do, he will be back.”
