Pep Guardiola says he does not know the extent of Rodri’s injury after the midfielder went off in the 21st minute of Manchester City’s dramatic draw with Arsenal.
The Spain international went down writhing in pain and clutching his knee one minute before Riccardo Calafiori’s stunning strike levelled the match.
Guardiola had to call upon Mateo Kovacic from the bench after Rodri appeared to twist his knee in a tangle with Arsenal’s Thomas Partey at a corner.
“I don’t know yet, I didn’t ask the doctors,” said Guardiola. “Rodri is strong. He leaves the pitch in this action because he felt something, otherwise Rodri stays there.
“He’s the best holding midfielder in the world, he is a potential Ballon d’Or winner, I would love for him to win.
“But it happened in the first minutes. These games with Arsenal are like that and we have to handle it. We did it. We did really good things.”
‘With Rodri it may have been different’
Since signing Rodri in 2019, City have won 74% and lost 11% of games when he plays, compared to 64% wins and 24% losses when he misses out.
Guardiola thinks the result “may have been different” had Rodri stayed on the pitch, with defender Ruben Dias then often taking up the position of the central midfielder.
Dias had 136 touches in the match, with many of them coming on the edge of the Arsenal box, which may not have been what Guardiola had in mind at the start of the evening.
Mikel Arteta’s side conceded just 29 goals in the Premier League last season and the Gunners pride themselves on their wall at the back.
With Leandro Trossard shown a second yellow card just before half-time, Arsenal set out to defend their 2-1 lead with everything they had in the second period.
“The space is not there in the team, they equalise the team. Kova [Kovacic] and Ruben [Dias] is destined for the shot,” said Guardiola.
“With Rodri it may have been different or maybe I put Ruben on the right. That’s why I delayed the sub for Kyle [Walker], but Kyle has a really good shot and crosses.
“Grealish created space. Raya made two, three or four saves [and] the second ball was not with us. It’s difficult.
“Congratulations to Arsenal, to be so strong mentally to block, it’s not easy but at the same time we were not easy to do it.”
