Rodri has urged his Manchester City teammates to call upon their ‘champion mentality’ as they work to close the gap to Arsenal at the top of the Premier League table.
The comments arrive at a delicate point in City’s season, with momentum having somewhat slowed following a demanding run of fixtures and a series of high-profile injury concerns, recently culminating in successive draws to Sunderland and Chelsea.
Having dropped points in consecutive league matches, Pep Guardiola’s side now find themselves with a clear margin to make up, and with little room for further error if they are to remain firmly in the title conversation.
Manchester City’s recent draws have also brought disruption within the squad, as well as the return of Rodri to action, with the Spaniard having endured a stop-start campaign due to muscular issues following a serious knee injury in 2024. Despite setbacks, Rodri has remained a vocal presence, reinforcing the mentality that underpinned City’s previous title successes.
Arsenal’s consistency at the summit has increased the pressure on City, while Guardiola has openly acknowledged the fine margins involved in sustaining a title challenge, with the squad acutely aware that dropped points at this stage of the campaign can carry significant consequences later in the season.
Speaking to ManCity.com this week, Rodri opened up on the distance between City and Arsenal, which now stands at six points following the former’s back-to-back draws against Sunderland and Chelsea in 2026.
“It’s quite a gap but football is for moments. We know that it’s a big gap that we have to still fight for. Don’t focus on the table, just focus on our level, and all the big things that are going to come at the end of the season,” said Rodri following the 1-1 draw with Chelsea.
“Let’s see where we are in May and we’ll see if we have chances to go for it,” he continued. “It doesn’t feel good to be behind, [but] we know that we have to be strong in the head to keep battling.
“We have to be smart enough to know that we can’t drop many points. This period has ups and downs, we need to know that from now on, until the end of the season, we have to go for it.”
Looking back on the dropped points against the Stamford Bridge side, Rodri admitted, “I think we missed a lot of chances, I think we have to be more clinical and more effective in those situations. The game changed and we didn’t.
“At 1-0 you always have these risks and in the last minute they scored but, it is what it is, we have to learn from these things. Don’t put your head down and keep the strong, champion mentality we have and fight for it until the end.”
From Manchester City’s perspective, the message from their midfield leader aligns closely with Guardiola’s own outlook in that performance levels must take precedence over league position at this stage.
With Rodri expected to be carefully reintegrated into the starting line-up before taking on successive 90 minutes over the course of a week, Manchester City will hope his influence on and off the pitch can help stabilise results.
Looking ahead, the coming weeks could define the trajectory of City’s title defence. If Arsenal falter even slightly, Guardiola’s side will need to be ready to capitalise.
