"Everyone's talking about Haaland, but without him this wouldn't have been possible" - Guardiola wowed by Manchester City man's display vs Real Madrid

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has heaped praise on Rodri for his displays this season.

Guardiola's comments came after City hammered Real Madrid 4-0 in the second leg of their UEFA Champions League semifinal tie on Wednesday, May 17. The Spanish midfielder added to his incredible performances this season with another fantastic showing to shut out Los Blancos.

Despite sharing the pitch with Kevin De Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan and going up against Luka Modric and Toni Kroos, Rodri was arguably the best midfielder on Wednesday.

After the game, Guardiola lauded the former Atletico Madrid man, emphasizing his importance in a season where Erling Haaland has stolen most of the headlines. He said (as quoted by Metro):

‘‘What a year. Everyone is talking about Haaland, but without him [Rodri] this would not have been possible.’’

Guardiola emphatically concluded:

‘‘He has become the best midfielder we have, it has been an imperial year. We are very happy, very much.’’

Starting the match alongside John Stones in Manchester City's engine room, Rodri played all 90 minutes. He had more touches (124), passes attempted (113) and passes completed (102) than any player on the pitch across both teams.

The Spaniard also recorded two key passes, tied for second-best in the game only behind Jack Grealish's three. He completed both his dribble attempts and won all five of his ground duels in addition to making three tackles and an interception.

Every time Real Madrid looked to attack in the first half, Rodri seemed to be in their way, winning the ball back and recycling possession. Even when Los Blancos improved after the interval, the Manchester City man exuded calmness and confidence to repeatedly snuff out danger.

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Rodri has been ever-present for Manchester City this season

Rodri's display against Real Madrid was another addition to what has been an extremely impressive individual season.

Manchester City have been able to depend on the Spaniard, who has missed just one game each in the Premier League and UEFA Champions League this term. Overall, he has racked up 52 appearances across competitions, scoring thrice and laying out seven assists.

In 34 league matches, Rodri has averaged 77.2 accurate passes (91% accuracy), 1.9 tackles, 1.0 interceptions and 1.0 key passes per game. He has also won 5.2 total duels (54% success rate) on average in each game.

The Manchester City midfielder has enjoyed a brilliant Champions League campaign as well. In 11 matches, Rodri has lifted his passing accuracy and total duel success rate to 92% and 62% per game respectively. He has also averaged 2.2 tackles and 0.9 interceptions per game.

While his average key passes per game drop drastically to 0.3, Rodri showed on Wednesday that he can still break lines and provide those passes when needed.