Rodri walks past Pep Guardiola following his red card in Manchester City

Pep Guardiola, Barcelona’s joint red card record holder, tells Rodri to ‘control himself’

September 23, 2023 Sports 3 Views

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has called for Rodri to ‘control himself’ after the midfielder was sent off in the champions’ 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest on Saturday.

Rodri was handed a straight red card for grabbing Morgan Gibbs-White by the neck in the early stages of the second half and City had to negotiate virtually the entire second half with 10 men.

It made little difference in the end as City rarely looked troubled, but last season’s treble winners will now be without Rodri for the next three matches – including a huge clash against Arsenal on October 8th.

“Hopefully Rodri will learn. Rodri has to control himself and his emotions,” Guardiola tole reporters after the game.

“This is what he has to do. I can get a yellow card, but Rodri cannot get a yellow card, I do not play.

“The guys inside have to be careful. I cannot control myself, but I do not play. Soon I will be in the stands because I will get enough yellow cards.”

As a player, Guardiola often found it difficult to control himself and to this day, he holds the joint record for the most red cards for any player at the Catalan club.

At Camp Nou, the midfielder was sent off eight times, which is the most along with his former team-mate Hristo Stoichkov and recently retired centre-back Gerard Pique.