Rodri suggests Man City must be wary of £20m Real Madrid player tonight
Rodri has suggested that his Manchester City teammates must be wary of a certain Real Madrid player ahead of the meeting between both juggernauts on Tuesday.
Much like Pep Guardiola, Carlo Ancelotti also has several players at his disposal who could singlehandedly turn the game on its head in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final.
As Manchester City face Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu, there will be plenty of pre-match discussions will be focused on the potential match-winners for both teams.
Ideally, Kyle Walker would be going head-to-head with Vinicius Junior once again but Pep Guardiola recently confirmed that he has been ruled out of the contest.
A battle that will have the world glued to their screens is between Antonio Rudiger and the man he described as a “super striker”, Erling Haaland.
Similarly, the world will be awaiting to witness whether Rodri can tame the in-form Jude Bellingham.
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Rodri suggests Manchester City must be wary of one Real Madrid star
In the same breath, whether the Real Madrid midfield can manage to keep Kevin De Bruyne quiet might play a major role in how the hosts set up in the middle of the park.
How either Ferland Mendy or Eduardo Camavinga deal with Phil Foden potentially being deployed as a right-winger is another interesting question that is waiting to be answered.
Both sets of players have faced each other enough times to be aware of the threats the other possesses and how important it will be to keep them at bay.
Such is the quality that the Sky Blues and Los Blancos have in their ranks that Pep Guardiola and Carlo Ancelotti will have their work cut out in setting their teams up.
Rodri mentioned a Real Madrid player that his side might have to be wary of.
A player who has a tendency to go under the radar due to his understated approach on the pitch.
The name Manchester City midfielder Rodri mentioned is that of Real Madrid legend Toni Kroos in his pre-match press conference.
“Well, I like to watch football, I like to watch great players like Toni Kroos, of course, and we are all aware that maybe it’s not the same profile of player as I am, although we are playing the same position. But he’s a player that needs to be taken into account because of course, he’s, I would say the metronome, the one setting the pace of the team, I would say”, he initially said about the £20 million (Guardian) man [via BeanymanSports].
Rodri discussed how important Toni Kroos is to how Real Madrid function and continued to suggest how crucial it is for Manchester City to limit his influence in the first leg.
“And we need to be aware of the areas where he likes to play, his strengths, we should know that he moves the team from one side to another and we need to stay close to him. I think Real Madrid depends a lot on Toni Kroos, I would say.”
“As I always say, players like Toni, we don’t have many in the world that have this capacity of taking that pace so this is why it is a player who needs to be taken into account”, he concluded.
Rodri is bang on the money about the German midfielder
Much like how Rodri dictates the tempo of how Manchester City play, Toni Kroos performs the same function for Real Madrid.
Especially at the Santiago Bernabeu, any visiting team could be heading towards the jaws of defeat if Kroos is allowed to put his foot on the ball and control proceedings.
As a result, the key for City will be to dispossess the German as much as possible; however, that is easier than done.
With that in mind, the Manchester City players, including Rodri must sustain the pressure on Real Madrid and Toni Kroos by trying to dominate possession as much as possible.
The lesser Kroos is involved, the higher a chance City have of leaving the Spanish capital with a result in their bag.
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