Pep Guardiola makes staggering Manchester City comparison to Golden State Warriors and Steph Curry | OneFootball

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has made a staggering comparison between the Golden State Warriors and Steph Curry and the ongoing absence of Rodri.

The newly-crowned Ballon d’Or winner is expected to be sidelined until next summer having sustained damage to his anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus during the eventual 2-2 draw against Arsenal in the Premier League earlier this season.

As such, that has sprung Pep Guardiola into action to source solutions to an ever-present in his midfield, and a player that has proven to be so integral to both Manchester City and Spain’s successes over the last two years in particular.

But it is not just Rodri’s absence causing havoc within the Manchester City camp, with the 28-year-old being just one of eight potential injury problems for the final three matches before the international break in November.

Speaking during a recent press conference, manager Pep Guardiola further stressed the irreplaceable importance of Rodri to his City team by comparing the absence of the Spaniard to the likes of Steph Curry and Lionel Messi.

“The challenge is win tomorrow against Spurs, play a good game, and the other ones. We will see at the end of the season what happens,” Guardiola said.

“Imagine in any sports, in basketball and the Golden State Warriors playing without Stephen Curry or Barcelona in his prime playing without (Lionel) Messi. You’d wish it had been different! They should be less strong. It’s the same with us!”

He continued, “Rodri is irreplaceable, we know it and the players, but we have to move on. Yeah, do it, and what can we say now is that Kova (Mateo Kovacic) is playing there and Gundo (Ilkay Gundogan) is playing there – they were exceptional.

“And one day we’ll play Manu (Akanji) and we’ll play John (Stones) in that position. And I know they will play good. So it’s what we have to do.”

Assessing City’s performances without their newly-crowned Ballon d’Or winner thus far, Guardiola said, “We are less strong. With him, we are better. And with Kevin (De Bruyne) we are better, and with Kyle Walker we are better, and with Oscar (Bobb) and all the people now with long injuries we are better.

“But what I said, now he has to recover well for the next season and we have to handle the team and game by game, try to win games.”

Pep Guardiola is likely to offer an update on his other injured stars when he addresses the media during his pre-match press conference ahead of the meeting with Bournemouth in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon.

The knee injury sustained by Kyle Walker during the last international break was added to by Manuel Akanji and Savinho during the 2-1 Carabao Cup defeat to Tottenham, while Josko Gvardiol may yet reveal a fitness issue having undergone treatment after the full-time whistle.

Kevin De Bruyne, Oscar Bobb, Jeremy Doku, and Jack Grealish will also not feature for Manchester City until after the November international break, while the Norwegian starlet is not expected to return to any on-field action until early 2025.