Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola revealed that his star midfielder Rodri admitted that he was in too much pain to play against Burnley on Saturday afternoon after aggravating his long-term knee injury.
The Spanish pacesetter at the base of midfield missed the vast majority of last season with a torn ACL. Guardiola has been at pains to gradually reintegrate the returning talisman, who has endured a stop-start opening to the new campaign. Heading into this weekend’s fixture, he had to listen to his body.
“Rodri yesterday in training said, ‘I’m not able to play. I have a lot of pain in my knee, I cannot play, I cannot play’,” the City boss revealed. “I said: ‘You cannot play, you don’t play. Another one is going to play.’”
Nico González lined up in front of City’s backline for a fairly routine 5–1 thumping of newly promoted opposition on Saturday, but the Spaniard—who Guardiola hastily christened ‘mini-Rodri’ last season—has struggled to fill the chasm created by his compatriot’s absence.
