Rodri admits to 'very bad feeling' in Man City dressing room after poor Premier League run and issues rallying cry ahead of Club World Cup final

The reigning European champions flew to Saudi Arabia for the Club World Cup on the back of a domestic slump that has seen them win just one of their last six Premier League games. However, there were no signs of their league struggles in the Club World Cup semifinal against Urawa Reds as they cruised to a comfortable 3-0 win, even without the services of injured duo Erling Haaland and Kevin de Bruyne. The victory leaves them on the brink of winning a potential fifth title in 2023 and Rodri does not want to miss the opportunity to be recognised as world beaters.

Speaking to reporters, Rodri said: "We have a massive opportunity to win an incredible trophy. We’re in the final. It was tough. Let’s do our best to win it. We have to give our best to try to win everything because it will be history. It would be an amazing run if we end with five titles.”

The midfielder added on City's surprisingly poor form in the Premier League: "[The last few games] left a very bad feeling in the changing room for us so I think it was good for us to stop a little bit and then come here to the [Club] World Cup. When you’re in that moment you’re in this mixture of feeling that you have failed and dropping points: sometimes you deserve that, sometimes you don’t. It’s a time when you can’t speak much, you have to be quiet, work as hard as you can and results will come out.”

City's dismal run began before the November international break when they were held to a 4-4 draw by Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. They then drew 3-3 at home to Tottenham before falling to a 1-0 defeat against Aston Villa in the West Midlands. Jack Grealish and Bernardo Silva saved City's blushes against newly-promoted Luton Town but Crystal Palace once again snatched a point at the Etihad Stadium to leave Pep Guardiola's men down in fourth in the standings before they set sail for Riyadh.

City will be without De Bruyne and Haaland when they take on Fluminense in the title decider on Friday. However, Guardiola will hope that the likes of Matheus Nunes, Silva and Julian Alvarez will produce the goods to lift their first-ever FIFA Club World Cup trophy, before City get back to Premier League action away at Everton on December 27.