Home Football Pep Guardiola offers hope in fresh Rodri injury report, insisting Man City will not use it as an excuse in championship fight with Arsenal, and discloses message he gave Mikel Arteta following the 2-2 tie

Pep Guardiola offers hope in fresh Rodri injury report, insisting Man City will not use it as an excuse in championship fight with Arsenal, and discloses message he gave Mikel Arteta following the 2-2 tie

Football — 09/25/2024

Pep Guardiola has declared that Manchester City would not use Rodri’s extended absence as an excuse in their next Premier League championship defence.

Rodri is in Barcelona awaiting a second opinion on a knee injury sustained in Sunday’s draw with Arsenal, but City fears he will miss the season.

Guardiola accepted that the 28-year-old will be out for an extended period of time, but said he will find methods to lessen the pain.

‘Still we don’t have the definitive, but he will be out for a long time, a while, but maybe it will be less than we expected,’ Guardiola said.

‘I cannot tell you because we are waiting on the phone calls from him and the doctors to know exactly what he has and the type of surgery he has to get. I think tonight, tomorrow we will know.

Rodri went down with a knee injury after just 16 minutes of Man City's match with Arsenal+6View gallery

Rodri suffered a knee injury after only 16 minutes of Manchester City’s match with Arsenal. 

Pep Guardiola has confirmed that the Spanish midfielder will not feature 'for a long time'+6View gallery

Pep Guardiola has confirmed that the Spanish midfielder will not feature ‘for a long time’

Mateo Kovacic (right) could prove to be the solution that Guardiola said he will need to find

‘Rodri is irreplaceable and the team won’t play with the best midfielder in the world for a long, long time. Of course it’s a big, big blow for us.

‘It’s football, it’s happened, and my duty is to find a solution, to be competitive like we have been for many years.

‘Rodri is not here, it’s a problem. But complain? I feel sorry for him. Recover best as possible, we wait for you, and go for it. This is the challenge. Go to Newcastle, try to win, do what we have done for many years. Simple as that.’

Guardiola also revealed that he messaged Mikel Arteta amid the fallout of City’s draw with the Gunners – and claimed his former assistant’s tactical set-up was nothing new.

Tempers boiled over following City's late equaliser against the Gunners on Sunday afternoon+6View gallery

Tempers boiled over following City’s late equaliser against the Gunners on Sunday afternoon

Guardiola revealed that he told Mikel Arteta that 'they did amazing' despite criticism from the City players toward Arsenal's tactics+6View gallery

Guardiola revealed that he told Mikel Arteta that ‘they did amazing’ despite criticism from the City players toward Arsenal’s tactics

‘It’s fine, they were brilliant,’ the City boss added. ‘I admire what they have done, I cannot do that with my team.

‘I said to Mikel, they did amazing, not a problem. They know their players and do what they have to do.

‘The opponents can play how they want to. Up to us to handle them. We play a lot of teams defensively. Do you know how many times teams play like that? Millions. It’s about us.’