Manchester City midfielder Rodri says he plans to take a break at first of the season because the club chases a second successive treble.
The 27-year-old played in Tuesday’s Champions League quarter-final for the forty first time this season attract the primary match against Real Madrid.
It was the third of eight matches in three competitions the club will play in April.
“I need a rest,” said the Spain international.
“Let’s see how we speak, how we experience this situation. Sometimes that’s how it is.
“I have to adapt. This [rest] is something we are planning, yes.”
After a thrilling 3-3 draw on the Santiago Bernabeu, it has been 429 days and 66 matches since Rodri lost a match for City in any competition.
The former Atletico Madrid midfielder has played 3,497 minutes this season, which is the twenty third most amongst all players in the highest European leagues in England, Spain, Germany, Italy and France.
However, only three players made more starts, and two of them were goalkeepers.
Rodri has missed 4 domestic games this season because of suspension, with City losing all 4.
Pep Guardiola’s men will face Luton within the Premier League on Saturday before the return leg against Real Madrid on April 17.
They will then face Chelsea within the FA Cup semi-finals, before playing Premier League games against Brighton and Nottingham Forest before the tip of the month.
Last week, Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag said players were struggling to keep up consistent play because they were “overloaded”, citing City’s performances in matches goalless draw with Arsenal in comparison with theirs 3-1 victory against the Red Devils in March.
Ten Hag said: “You see the level drop with them [Manchester City] Again, it was a different team than when we faced them. Team standards will drop at any moment if we continue this process, overloading the international program.”
– said the worldwide players’ association Fifpro football needs to do more to guard against “unsafe levels of equipment overload.”
Meanwhile, world governing body FIFA is expanding the variety of club World Cup competitions, and European soccer’s governing body UEFA is increasing the scale of the Champions League from next season.
Credit : www.bbc.co.uk
