Pep Guardiola has confirmed that Rodri will not start in Manchester City‘s final Premier League game of the 2024-25 season against Fulham at Craven Cottage on Sunday.
Rodri received a standing ovation from the Etihad faithful when he came on as a second-half substitute in City’s 3-1 win over Bournemouth on Tuesday night after eight months out with an ACL injury.
The 2024 Ballon d’Or winner began individual training towards the end of February before returning to full first-team training at the end of April.
Sitting third in the Premier League table, Man City face a crucial final-day trip to Fulham knowing that they need to match or better the results of Newcastle United, Chelsea and Aston Villa in the three places directly below them to qualify for the Champions League.
While Guardiola is delighted to have Rodri available for selection this weekend, the Spaniard will not be named in the starting lineup and the Citizens boss believes that it will take time for the midfield maestro to get back to his best.
Guardiola issues fresh update on Rodri
Speaking about Rodri at a press conference on Friday, Guardiola said: “No, he’s not going to start. He’s not ready to start.
“We’re really pleased he’s back, really pleased for the reaction for our people to him, I’m pretty sure he’s so pleased with that, but there’s still a long way to be the Rodri he was.
“I guess it will be next season (when he starts more matches). “I think it will take even longer for that (playing every three days across 70 games), because the experience with this surgery is to be careful, otherwise have muscular problems and this kind of stuff.
“But this is the first step for mind and knee still is not to see Rodri the way we know him.”
Meanwhile, Guardiola has confirmed that injured defender John Stones and suspended midfielder Mateo Kovacic are the only two absentees ahead of the trip to Fulham.
Nathan Ake and Oscar Bobb are therefore in contention to remain in the Citizens matchday after recovering from respective foot and hamstring injuries to make the substitutes’ bench against Bournemouth, the latter of whom came on in second-half stoppage time.
Guardiola: “We have to look at ourselves”
Guardiola has insisted that he and his Man City players will be fully focused on the task in hand against Fulham, rather than looking over their shoulders at the results of their top-five rivals on Sunday.
Asked if Man City would prefer to have their Champions League destiny in their own hands, Guardiola said: “It’s better. Arriving in the last games, it depends on you, it depends on us, yes it’s better.
“We have to look at ourselves. We need one point to be in the Champions League next season and we have to go to win against a top side.
“The situation is clear, to play in the Champions League we have to take a result there and that’s what we’re going to do.
“See today, tomorrow in training who’s fit, how we are going to play, different shapes and different ways and see how the players are more fit and focused and go to London to take the result we need.”
Guardiola is expecting a “really tough” game against a Fulham side who cannot qualify for Europe and are now merely playing for pride, as they sit 10th in the table and four points behind Brighton & Hove Albion in eighth spot.
However, Man City should be confident of success on Sunday as they have won each of their last 17 encounters with the Cottagers, the longest winning run one English league team has had against another in history.
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