When is Rodri back?! Pep Guardiola reveals Man City's cautious plan for Ballon d'Or winner's latest injury return

Rodri suffered a devastating ACL injury in September 2024 that prevented him from forming part of a Premier League title defence at the Etihad Stadium - with that crown eventually being surrendered to Liverpool. More minor knocks were picked up when competing at the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup. 

City have always been aware of the need to handle Rodri with care, with the hope being that he could play his way towards full sharpness. Another setback was suffered, though, when lining up against Brentford last month. The 29-year-old midfielder was forced out of that contest inside the opening 20 minutes due to his persistent knee injury.

Rodri's absence has impacted the Cityzens' performance on the field. It was only after the Spaniard's injury last season that City lost form and momentum and were nearly out of the Premier League title race by the start of 2025. This season, City have started on a bright note but with Rodri featuring sparingly, their performances have been inconsistent. 

Ahead of the club's upcoming Champions League fixture against Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday, manager Guardiola provided an update on Rodri's situation as he said: “Everybody is fit except Kova and Rodri. Not long [for Rodri]. Not sure but not long. In the process and timing on when he will be back. We will wait a little more to make sure he is fine.”

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City were finally showing some consistency after winning four matches in a row across all competitions and were back in the title race alongside Arsenal as they were only four points behind the Gunners the latest round of fixturef However, Guardiola's side suffered an unexpected 2-1 loss against the Magpies and have now dropped to the third position in the Premier League thanks to wins for Chelsea and Arsenal.

Analysing the game after the loss, Guardiola told BBC Radio 5 Live: "Tight game. Entertaining game. They had chances. We had chances. In the end they scored one more goal. Two or three chances that he [Haaland] always have because he is the best. And yeah, go to the next. Two or three chances that he always have because he is the best. And yeah, go to the next. The second half we started rally well and had the momentum, we were arriving and finding players in the positions. But after we scored a goal, they scored a goal. After it was more difficult because [Sven] Botman was in the pitch, the defence was deep, so yes more difficult." 

Guardiola completely lost his cool after his side's 2-1 loss on Saturday, as the Spanish coach was first seen getting into a very animated chat with Bruno Guimaraes, with both individuals looking testy at times. The 54-year-old also appeared to argue with a cameraman as he struggled to keep his cool. When questioned on the matter, he later said: "No questions, everything is fine. I said how good he [Bruno] is [but that conversation] is for private situations. Everything is fine."

He even issued an apology to the cameraman while speaking to reporters, as he added: "I apologise. I feel embarrassed, ashamed when I see it. I don’t like it. I apologised after one second to the cameraman. I am who I am. After 1,000 games I’m not a perfect person, I make huge mistakes. It’s not about that. What is for sure, I defend any team and my club, that’s for sure. The reason why is I want to defend my team and my club."