The English club made official on Tuesday the nature of the injury suffered by its Spanish midfielder, who was seriously injured on Sunday in the league against Arsenal. The length of his unavailability is still unknown.
Manchester City confirmed on Wednesday that Spanish defensive midfielder Rodri, a regular starter in the four-time reigning English champions, has a serious knee injury and is expected to be out for several months.
“The evaluation continues to determine the extent of the injury and the expected prognosis.” regarding his unavailability period, the club from the north-west of England specified about the 28-year-old player, injured in the “ligaments of the right knee” against Arsenal (2-2) on Sunday in the Premier League.
Season already over?
This type of injury usually results in an absence of several months. Some British media have even mentioned a season already over for the midfielder, European champion this summer with Spain.
Rodri was injured in the first quarter of an hour of the match while trying to escape Thomas Partey’s marking from a corner.
Last week, the Spanish international denounced the increase in the number of matches per season and its consequences on the health of the players as well as on the quality of the game played.
The current schedule, “in my humble opinion, it’s too much”he had said. “We have to take care of ourselves, we are the main characters of this sport, or this business, whatever you call it”Rodri explained, raising the possibility of a players’ strike.
Big blow for Manchester City
His long-term absence is a major blow for Manchester City, even though the Emirati-owned club has a depth of bench that is second to none.
The scorer in the 2023 Champions League final, won for the first time by the “Citizens”have lost just one of their last 84 matches for club and country.
Since his arrival in 2019, Manchester City have lost just 11% of the 260 games Rodri has played, according to figures from statisticians Opta. The percentage of defeats rises to 24% in his absence during this period.
Last season, the team in the sky blue jersey lost four of the five matches played without the former Atletico Madrid player, a run that does not include the elimination against Real Madrid on penalties in the quarter-finals of the European Cup.
In total, he played 50 matches for his club and 8 others for his country last season, which ended with the victory against England (2-1) at the Euro.
During the final in Berlin, Rodri suffered a muscle injury, a problem that caused him to miss the start of the season with Manchester City. Against Arsenal on Sunday, he started for the first time since the restart of the championship.
In his absence, coach Pep Guardiola can count on Matteo Kovacic, Ilkay Gündogan and Rico Lewis, a young, versatile defender capable of playing in defensive midfield.
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