Manchester City's Champions League trip to Villarreal should have been a glorious return for Rodri. Villarreal is the club that contributed to his name.
However, the Spanish midfielder did not receive a warm welcome from former fans at the Estadio de la Ceramica. The reason is that Rodri is still recovering from a hamstring injury.
Rodri has gone through one of the worst of the season with a knee injury. Each knee has two psoas cartilage - the internal psoas cartilage (inside) and the external psoas cartilage (exide) - while the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) connects them. Although the anterior cruciate ligament is one of the most important ligaments in the knee, the cartilage also plays an essential role, absorbing the impact force between the calves and thighs, while helping to stabilize and protect the knees from wear and tear.
About 5070% of people with a torn anterior cruciate ligament also suffered simultaneous damage to one of the two temples, but only about a third of them had all three structures torn.
Rodri is one of the unlucky cases who suffered injuries that the medical community calls the "terrifying triangle". ACL surgeon Gordon Mackay told the British press that tearing the external cartilage means "more difficult recovery, more complex surgery and more unpredictable results".
As early as January, Guardiola warned of the risk of Rodri returning too early. "He's been working hard, but honestly, I'm not sure. A anterior cruciate ligament injury is still a anterior cruciate ligament injury. I always believe that with serious injuries, the body needs time to rest" - Guardiola said.
Following the surgery, Guardiola said Rodri could be out for between nine and 12 months. However, he returned to the pitch less than 8 months after being injured, when he came on for 10 minutes in Man City's Premier League penultimate against Bournemouth. But looking back, the biggest mistake was probably taking Rodri to the FIFA Club World Cup 2025.
In the US, Guardiola once again emphasized caution and only allowed Rodri to play in the last half of the match against Wydad Casablanca and Al Ain. He then started for more than an hour against Juventus, but returned to the bench against Al-Hilal in the round of 16.
When he was brought in in the second half, Rodri had to leave the field in extra time due to a groin injury. A few months later, Guardiola admitted it was a "serious injury" and explained that Rodri would not be able to play since the start of the season.
At the start of the 2025-2026 campaign, Rodri only played 15 minutes against Tottenham and 90 minutes against Brighton, the first time he played a full match in 11 months. Guardiola's wishes seemed to have come true when Rodri started in matches against Manchester United, Napoli and Arsenal in just 7 days, playing a total of 226 minutes.
However, a week later, he was left out of the squad to play against Burnley. Guardiola revealed worrying information when Rodri told him during training: "I can't play. I have a lot of knee pain."
However, despite the warnings, Rodri was still the starting midfielder in the match against Monaco in the Champions League, but had to leave the field after an hour of play due to injury concerns. Less than 4 days later, he continued to start in the match against Brentford, but only played 22 minutes before having to leave the field due to a hamstring injury.
Rodri's persistent injuries have caused Man City a bigger problem than any other player, except Erling Haaland. For 15 months, Man City have not lost a match in all competitions with Rodri in the starting lineup. The loss to Brighton in August was their first Premier League defeat since his debut, since February 2023.
In general, The Citizens will have to carefully consider the next steps with a player whose physical strength is no longer as good as before.
