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Rodri made his first appearance for the Mancunian side in over 8 months in City’s 3-1 win over Bournemouth and was given a raucous ovation when he was subbed on.
Pep Guardiola, Rodri. (X)
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola expressed his delight on the return of Balon d’Or winner Rodri following a lengthy stint on the sideline due to a knee injury.
Rodri, who played a crucial part in helping City to the treble a couple of seasons ago, made his first appearance for the Mancunian side in over eight months and was given a raucous ovation when he was subbed on against Bournemouth in the side 3-1 win over the Cherries.
“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,” Guardiola said.
The Spaniard, however, cautioned that it would be a while before the Spanish midfielder returned to his very best.
“There’s still a long way to be the Rodri he was,” the City gaffer added.
“Guess will be next season we start to be Rodri not in the way like we have seen before the injury where he played 70 games every three days,” the 54-year-old said.
“It will take longer for that because the experience with this surgery is to be careful otherwise have muscular problems and this kind of stuff,” Guardiola explained.
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“But this is the first step for mind and knee still is not to see Rodri the way we know him,” the Catalan genius stated.
City, who are placed third in the Premier League this season and locked in a five-way-battle for the remaining three UCL spots, need a draw against Fulham at the Craven Cottage on Sunday to secure their place in the upcoming edition of the UEFA Champions League.
Guardiola voiced ease with their qualification chances relying on their own performance instead of results from elsewhere.
“It’s better. Arriving in the last games, it depends on you, it depends on us, yes it’s better,” the Spaniard said.
“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,” he concluded.
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Liverpool and Arsenal have punched their tickets to the elite European competition by securing the top-two places in England, ahead of an engaging final gameweek which will witness Chelsea and Nottingham forest, two of the side vying for a top-5 finish clash against each other, while Newcastle take on Everton and Aston Villa welcome Manchester United.
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