Monday Musing: Haaland? KDB? Gundogan? No, Rodri is Pep's key player
A look back at the Champions League final.
Pep Guardiola has no shortage of superstars to call on.
Erling Haaland. Kevin De Bruyne. Ilkay Gundogan. Jack Grealish. Phil Foden… the list goes on. An incredible array of attacking talents litter Manchester City’s squad.
But it wasn’t Haaland, nor De Bruyne, Gundogan, Grealish or Foden who scored the goal that saw City beat Inter 1-0 on Saturday in Istanbul to finally clinch the Champions League and, in the process, join Manchester United as the only English club to have won the treble.
Man City 1-0 Inter: Rodri seals the treble
Rodri was the Manchester City hero as his second-half goal sealed Champions League glory with a 1-0 victory over Inter.
That honour fell to one Rodrigo Hernandez Cascante. Or, as everyone knows him, Rodri.
With 22 minutes left on the clock at Ataturk Olympic Stadium, Bernardo Silva’s cross was deflected out to the edge of Inter’s box. Rodri was waiting, and slammed a wonderful effort into the right-hand corner.
May 29th, 2021. City played Chelsea in their first Champions League final. Coincidentally, that showdown had been set to take place in Istanbul, but COVID-19 restrictions in Turkey forced a relocation to Porto.
There has been an on-running joke that Guardiola “overthinks” the big games. While that stereotype is largely an unfair one, on that occasion in northern Portugal, it carried some weight.
Rodri had played in 34 Premier League games that season, along with nine matches across the League Cup and FA Cup and 10 in the Champions League. Yet against Chelsea, Guardiola put Rodri on the bench, with Gundogan preferred in holding midfield.
Chelsea won 1-0, Kai Havertz scoring the only goal, and while Guardiola is so often, and rightly, beyond reproach, his decisions were called into question.
Speaking ahead of last week’s final, Guardiola said of that decision:
“It was a gameplan. If I tell you privately the reason why I took the decision in that moment you could say it was right but it is simple: If I lose, I am wrong, if I win I am right. You have to accept that in this business. It was a tight game and in many things we were better than them but we lost. Would I do something different now? Maybe, but that doesn't count.”
This time around, there were no surprises. No tinkering or overthinking from Guardiola, who put the best XI he had available out onto the pitch.
Not that City had it easy, or were anywhere close to their best, but in finals it is not about playing scintillating football; indeed, their second-leg performance against Real Madrid in the semi-finals had covered that off, anyway.
This was about substance over style and fittingly, Rodri was the one who came full circle.
There was never any chance the Spain international, now arguably the best defensive midfielder in world football, was not starting against Inter.
And for all City’s attacking talent on the pitch, only centre-back Ruben Dias (six) was involved in more attacking sequences from open play than Rodri (five) on Saturday. When it came to the underlying metrics, Inter had the better chances, accumulating 1.8 xG to City’s 0.9 (all data from Opta).
Rodri’s winner came from what was City’s third-best opportunity of the night, at least in terms of xG. Just enough space opened up for him to curl a side-footed effort around a glut of defenders and beyond Andre Onana.
No player in City’s squad played in more league games than Rodri (36) in 2022-23, with only goalkeeper Ederson clocking up more minutes. Rodri finished with two goals and six assists in the top flight; he has gone up another level this campaign when it comes to attacking output.
Of course, attacking is not Rodri’s primary objective, but the best players can do it all and the former Atletico Madrid midfielder is certainly one of the best around right now.
Rodri is a brilliant holding midfielder both in and out of possession, but given City rarely have to go long spells without the ball, Rodri’s composure and ability to act as the midfield metronome, now playing alongside John Stones, is key to Guardiola’s build-up.
According to FBref, Rodri is in the 99th percentile of midfielders in Europe’s top eight leagues for passes attempted, the 98th for pass completion percentage, and the 92nd for progressive passes, which are forward passes over a certain distance, depending on which part of the pitch a player is in.
Opta state that no player had completed more passes under pressure in the 2022-23 Champions League than Rodri prior to Saturday’s final. In fact, his 105 ball recoveries also saw Rodri top the charts in UEFA’s flagship club competition. That tally was 26 more than any other player and the most in the tournament since Claude Makelele registered 109 in 2007-08. Talk about elite company.
Speaking to BT Sport after the final whistle, Rodri said:
"Emotional. A dream come true. All these fans have waited I don't know how many years. They deserve, we deserve.
"The last years we were so close. I just want to thank everyone.
"It wasn't easy. What a team we faced, the way they defend and counter-attack.
"We gave everything. I wasn't good in the first half. Finals are like this. You can't expect to play well as always. Emotions and nerves are there.
"We competed like animals. We want more. More ambition. It's a dream. This moment will never happen again. We hope for more next year but for now we deserve to celebrate.”
If anyone deserves to lead City’s treble celebrations, it’s him.
City might well lose Gundogan this summer, while Bernardo Silva’s future remains in doubt as well. But in Rodri, they have one of the very best in the business, who proved his value on the biggest stage of all.
By Patric Ridge