Real Madrid attacker Rodrygo has been speaking about Manchester City ahead of Tuesday night’s huge Champions League game – and made an honest admission about the reigning champions.
City won again at the weekend in the Premier League, beating Crystal Palace 4-2 at Selhurst Park.
It was a solid win ahead of this huge quarter-final with Real, who are looking to exact revenge on City after losing last season’s semi-final encounter.
City dumped the Spanish heavyweights out to reach the final in Istanbul, where they then claimed the top prize for the first time in their history, sealing the Treble in the process.
A lot of City fans did not want to be drawn against Madrid in the quarter-final, with many perceiving them as the next strongest team in the competition.
But Rodrygo has admitted they didn’t want to face City – and the Brazilian dropped an honest verdict on Pep Guardiola‘s side.
Real Madrid star Rodrygo compliments Manchester City, admitting they are really ‘annoying’ to play against
Going into this game, City will be without Kyle Walker and Nathan Ake, with journalist Fabrizio Romano reporting both injured players haven’t travelled with the squad to Madrid.
Josko Gvardiol missed training on Monday, but has travelled and may yet play.
Despite have a few injury problems, City are still just about favourites to win the tie. But Madrid will provide a stern test, with key threats like Jude Bellingham, Vinicius and Rodrygo in their team.
Rodrygo – who signed for Real for a reported £40 million in 2019 – has conducted an interview with the Guardian ahead of the clash, and admitted he didn’t want to play against City.
He said: “There are no bad or medium [City] players. There’s no player you can think of like ‘This one I’m going to press because he isn’t good and he will give us a goal or a great chance’.
“They have a very good control of the game and of the ball. It’s a very beautiful game, a very difficult team. It’s very annoying to play against them but I believe in our team.”
Fair play to Rodrygo
Rodrygo knows the score, and it’s nice to hear him being complimentary about the way City play.
There are certainly no weak links in the team when it comes to ball-playing, and Real Madrid are going to have to work very hard to try and get the ball back for themselves.
But City have definitely not been as strong at the back this season and the likes of Rodrygo, Vinicius and Bellingham will all be aware of this.
The absence of Walker could potentially sting a lot given the pace of Vinicius. But hopefully, whoever replaces him – and it could quite possibly be Rico Lewis – rises to the occasion.