Real Madrid must put a stop to Rodri’s incredible run of 64 games without a loss for both club and country if they hope to extract revenge on Manchester City in the quarterfinals of the Champions League.
Manchester City midfielder Rodri
Real Madrid must put a stop to Rodri’s incredible run of 64 games without a loss for both club and country if they hope to extract revenge on Manchester City in the quarterfinals of the Champions League. The 27-year-old last experienced loss on March 28, 2023, when Spain fell to Scotland in a Euro 2024 qualifying match. Since then, he has led his nation to Nations League victory, scored the game-winning goal in the Champions League final, and assisted City in winning the Premier League, FA Cup, UEFA Super Cup, and Club World Cup.
He is the one player who even a team full of world-class players cannot live without, with City manager Pep Guardiola often calling him the finest midfielder in the world.
This season, Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne have both had protracted injuries that the English champions have had to deal with.
Rodri, however, was absent due to suspension for City’s four losses this season across all competitions.
In a similar vein, Spain’s lone defeat since playing the Scots at Hampden Park a year ago was in a friendly match last month against Colombia, during which he was rested for the whole ninety minutes.
Rodri, who scored twice in Spain’s 3-3 draw with Brazil two weeks ago, also has positive recollections of the Bernabeu.
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Guardiola declared, “Rodri is the best,” following the holding midfielder’s eighth goal of the year against Aston Villa last week.
“He can accomplish everything since he is the finest in his position. His ability to read the game and his readiness are his qualities.
“He is so good at many things…The presence, the physicality, he is complete.”
With Jude Bellingham choosing to stay at the Santiago Bernabeu over returning to his own country last summer, Madrid feels, very properly, that they have the upper hand against the financial titans of the Premier League.
However, City may also feel proud of themselves for grabbing Rodri, a Madrid native, right out from under their nose.
He only played for Atletico Madrid for one season after making his debut at Villarreal before City paid £62 million ($78 million) to activate his release clause in 2019.
The outcome of Bellingham and Rodri’s head-to-head match will largely determine if the Spanish and English titans play each other again in the upcoming three seasons.
Two years prior, Real Madrid staged an incredible comeback to win their 14th European Cup, and City watched as a two-goal lead evaporate in stoppage time at the Bernabeu.
A year later, in a different semifinal match, Guardiola’s team exacted their revenge, crushing Madrid 4-0 at home in what was possibly the highlight of the former Barcelona manager’s eight years in Manchester.
And Rodri thinks that City’s home advantage in the second leg—which takes place at the Etihad—could be the difference in the match. City hasn’t lost in the Champions League since 2018.
“Our mutual knowledge is extensive. We’re from last year, which was great for us,” Rodri remarked following the draw.
“We know that it will be very difficult to qualify again but honestly I think the draw was favourable for us in the sense that the return leg is at home.”
