Thursday 28 / November / 2024
Manchester: Manchester City head coach Pep Guardiola called Rodrigo the best holding midfielder in the world after City's 3-1 win over FK Crvena Zvezda in the first UEFA Champions League (UCL) night of the season.
In the post-match press conference after the match against Zvezda, Guardiola was asked about Rodrigo.
City boss praised Rodrigo's lone goal against Zvezda and termed it as "top class".
“Right now, yeah, he is the best,” the City boss said. “Hopefully he can be better and improve but he is an extraordinary holding midfielder. We were lucky the club signed this player and when he arrived he was not this type of player."
“Of course he plays an amount of games and now he is one of the captains. He is a top-class player…he reads the play and spaces and knows exactly where men are free. Close to the box he is so dangerous. He loves to arrive in the final third and dribble and shoot. He is playing really, really well,” ," Guardiola added.
The reigning champions of the UCL suffered in the opening minutes of the game and conceded a goal just before the end of the first half.
However, as soon as the second half started Julian Alvarez equalized the scoreline and again in the 60th minute the Argentine youngster got the back of the net to give City the lead in the match.
In the 73rd minute, Rodrigo scored from a brilliant shot to clinch a 3-1 win for City.
City will square off against Nottingham Forest on Saturday in their next fixture in the Premier League.
