Monaco vs. Man City: “Clearly improving” Rodri alternative praised before “three-pointers” in Champions League

Manchester City midfielder Nico Gonzalez is a “safe and cautious” alternative to injured star Rodri for Wednesday’s Champions League trip to Monaco, Citizens expert Steven McInerney from Esteemed Kompany has told Sports Mole.

The Citizens are currently sweating over the fitness of the 2024 Ballon d’Or winner, who requested not to play in last weekend’s 5-1 Premier League win over Burnley because of “a lot of pain in his knee” according to manager Pep Guardiola.

Speaking after City’s victory against the Clarets at the Etihad Stadium, Guardiola confirmed that Rodri is feeling pain in the same knee in which he tore his anterior cruciate ligament this time last year, forcing the Spaniard to miss more than eight months of football in the 2024-25 campaign.

Rodri, who did take part in training on Tuesday, has emerged as a doubt for Man City’s matchday two encounter with Monaco in the League Phase of the Champions League, and January signing Gonzalez is in contention to retain his spot in a deep-lying midfield role.

The 23-year-old produced an assured performance in midfield across 90 minutes against Burnley, completing 91% of his passes, winning seven duels, as well making six recoveries and three clearances.

“Very coachable” Gonzalez is “clearly improving” at Man City

Amid concern surrounding Rodri’s latest setback, McInerney has acknowledged that no-one should ‘expect Gonzalez to be Rodri straight away’, but the talented Spaniard is making positive progress under Guardiola.

“I think he will [start against Monaco],” McInerney told Sports Mole. “I don't think he's been like electric or anything like that, but he's been safe and cautious and is clearly improving.

“Guardiola's talked about how he's very coachable, which is obviously an incredibly good thing, and he'll see the bigger picture and more of a long-term view for Nico Gonzalez. The guy clearly is very talented, he's also young as well, he's only 23 years old.

“He's also got a lot to improve on, but that will come, and the more he plays alongside experienced players and winners and so on, and Guardiola gets to look at the 90 minutes from the weekend and says ‘We've got to do this better, that better’, it's a chance for him to learn.”

McInerney added: “This is obviously going to be a difficult game, but we should be able to beat Monaco without Rodri. I think City have the quality and the resources to beat them.

“Rodri (injury news) is massive. I don't like the emphasis on ‘a lot of pain’ - that does scare me. But it's nice to have a backup in Nico Gonzalez that I trust to do a good job. A safe job? Sure, but you can't expect him to be Rodri straight away.”

‘Man City will have pinned down Monaco game as a potential three-pointers’

McInerney has suggested that Man City will view Wednesday’s clash with Monaco as a “potential three-pointer”, taking into account the French club’s surprise 4-1 defeat at Club Brugge on matchday one in the Champions League, as well as their 3-1 loss to Lorient in Ligue 1 last weekend.

“Yeah, we should be (beating Monaco). Monaco aren't a better side than Napoli (who City beat 2-0 a fortnight ago) and we were better than them,” said McInerney.

“I'm pretty confident that City should be able to get something here. Of course, the Rodri news - a bit of pain in his knee - isn't ideal, but I think if we can get two wins out of our first two, given how poor last season's League Phase went in the Champions League, it'd be really, really encouraging.

“I think City need that boost going into the winter months and games, and it is away from home, which adds a little bit of difficulty, but Monaco are not in the best form, very up and down right now.”

He added: “This is a very winnable game, you've got to [beat] them. Monaco, of course, are a good side, with a good pedigree, but they are a side that we should look at and should be winning, and I think they'll have that pinned down as a potential three-pointers too.

“I think City will be fine in this Champions League campaign, but last season showed how quickly things could unravel. For example, we lost 4-1 to Sporting last season, and Monaco are more than capable of doing that to us as well, if we don't focus. I think this is an important game, just to set off in a strong footing for this Champions League campaign.”

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