New Rodri injury rocks Man City as Pep Guardiola delivers honest title verdict

James Holland 01 Jul 2025 12:25 PM

Rodri may have picked up another injury

Manchester City are anxiously awaiting news on star midfielder Rodri after he suffered an injury setback during their shock Club World Cup defeat to Al-Hilal earlier on Tuesday.

Man City looked like contenders to win the revamped tournament in the US after thrashing Juventus 5-2 in their final group game. Pep Guardiola’s side will have been confident going into the last-16 clash against Al-Hilal, but the Saudis’ big spending finally paid off as they secured a statement win to knock out the 2023 Champions League winners.

Bernardo Silva had given City the lead early in the first half but the game completely changed after the interval when Al-Hilal scored two quickfire goals.

Erling Haaland equalised for City to send the game into extra time. Kalidou Koulibaly restored Al-Hilal’s lead in just the fourth minute of extra time, only for Phil Foden to step up and drag City level once again.

But Marcos Leonardo had the last laugh as he secured his brace in the 112th minute and sent Al-Hilal through to the quarter-finals with a memorable win.

The result sees City miss out on a potential $125million (£91m / €106m) in prize money, which will go to the tournament winners. However, the Club World Cup has still boosted City’s financial situation.

The biggest concern for Guardiola and City chiefs will be an injury to Rodri, who has only recently returned from an ACL rupture.

Rodri replaced Ilkay Gundogan in the 53rd minute to make his fifth appearance since returning to match fitness. However, he asked to come off in extra time and was replaced by Foden, who went on to score.

After the match, Guardiola was coy on the extent of Rodri’s injury. “We have to see Rodri, he complained about his situation, but we need time to come back,” the manager said (via the Express).

On the defeat, Guardiola added: “In the end we have to score and be clinical. They [Al-Hilal] did not create much in the first half, we did but could not finish it. I had a feeling we could go through. We allow them to make transitions [but] we created a lot.

“It is a pity, we have been on an incredible journey together [here] and in a good place. The vibe was really good, I cannot thank Manchester City enough and especially the players for training and how they have been playing.

“We would have loved to have continued, it is only here every four years. We had a feeling that the team is doing well but now we go home and it is time to rest [physically] and rest our minds for the new season.”

When asked if he had seen enough for City to mount a Premier League title charge, Guardiola responded: “It is too early to say. But there have been so many good things I did not see in the [recent] past. The relationship between the players, our captain [Silva] helped a lot and the standards from our staff.

“I felt we were happy here, the training sessions have been really good. [But] Al-Hilal has a lot of quality. They are a complete team that can run and run – I have a big opinion of them but we [still] did a good game.”

Club World Cup might ‘destroy’ Man City aims – Pep Guardiola

Before the match, Guardiola admitted there is a possibility the Club World Cup could ‘destroy’ City’s plans of getting back in the title conversation.

“I try not to think about it, otherwise I will be so anxious,” he said. “We will rest the time the Premier League allows us to. And game by game, month by month, we will see. And maybe in November, December, January, ask me, Pep. I may say: ‘So listen, we are a disaster. We are exhausted. The World Cup destroyed us.’ I don’t know, but it’s the first time in our life that that’s happened [32-team CWC]. So we will see.

“So I try to be relaxed, to enjoy the days here, the good vibes that we have, the competition, to try to win it. And the most important thing, to recover, to find or re-find ourselves what we were. This is my main target in this tournament.”

In order to get back to winning major honours, City have overhauled their squad this year. After four new signings in January, they have spent a further £116m (€135m / $160m) to bring in Rayan Cherki, Rayan Ait-Nouri and Tijjani Reijnders this summer.