Rodri has written his name into Manchester City folklore.
The Spanish midfielder’s goal against Inter in the Champions League final earlier this month ended years of pain for City fans.
He popped up in the second-half at the Ataturk Stadium to finish into the corner after Bernardo Silva’s cut-back.
That goal sealed a first Champions League trophy, and helped City to complete an historic Treble.
It is Rodri’s finest moment for City so far, and it just felt right that he was the man to get the winning goal in the final.
That’s because Rodri was always there from start to finish in 2022/23… and a there’s a statistic that shows just how crucial he is for Pep Guardiola.
Lionel Messi is the only player to have started more games in a single campaign than Rodri for Pep Guardiola
City have produced a brilliant 2022/23 review piece on Rodri via their official website.
About halfway through the article, it is revealed that Rodri played in 56 of the club’s 61 games, all of them starts.
That was for a total of 4478 minutes on the pitch.
That is an incredible output from the £220,000-a-week star.
Only one player has managed more than that in a single season under Pep. And that was none other than Lionel Messi – the best player to have ever kicked a ball – back in the 2011/12 season.
The Argentina magician started 57 games that season.
Statistic highlights Rodri as Pep Guardiola’s most important player since Lionel Messi
56 starts in one season is absolutely outrageous from Rodri.
The 27-year-old deserves enormous praise for simply being as available as he was in 2022/23. It is not easy to stay fit when you are playing that regularly.
Clearly, he takes extremely good care of himself in order to keep coming back to play.
And it is very understandable why Pep turned to Rodri has much as he did.
He is the best defensive midfielder in the world. Rodri is a master of controlling games from the base of midfield. He keeps things ticking for City, but he can also play brilliant line-breaking passes when required.
He is an incredible ball-winner, and can throw his weight around if needs be. And, of course, he possesses a rocket of a shot.
It will be interesting to see if Rodri starts as many games next season. There is genuinely no reason why not, if he shows the same kind of form as he did in the season just gone.
