Manchester City enjoyed a remarkable 2022/23 campaign, becoming only the second English football club in history to win the Treble.
The Citizens wrapped up their third league title in a row in May 2023 before beating rivals Manchester United in the FA Cup final on 3 June.
Then, a week later, Manchester City triumphed in the Champions League final, beating Inter Milan 1-0 in Istanbul to secure their first ever top-tier European cup.
Rodri has now discussed what happened behind the scenes in the City camp during the final, including what Pep Guardiola spent 10 minutes talking about at half-time.
Photo by FRANCK FIFE/AFP via Getty Images
Photo by FRANCK FIFE/AFP via Getty Images
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Rodri says Pep Guardiola spent 10 minutes talking about finding the free man
Rodri, speaking to Sports Illustrated, said Guardiola gave the City players two minutes to talk among each other before speaking himself.
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The Spain international revealed that Guardiola then spent 10 minutes of his half-time team talk speaking about finding the free man.
With Inter changing tactics in the first half, City struggled to penetrate the Serie A side’s compact 5-3-2 defensive block, and so they had to adapt.
“The first two minutes we were with our teammates talking about what we can find, but then Pep started talking and he’s the guy who has to guide us,” said Rodri.
“Ten minutes of the speech was about finding the free man, and it was John Stones in that case.
“They changed, and that’s what we had to identify, and in the second half we did it a lot better.”
How Manchester City won the 2023 Champions League final
City were at their swashbuckling best for most of the 2022/23 campaign, but the Champions League final saw them scrap their way to glory – the sign of true champions.
Inter had the upper hand for much of the game, while City looked nervous as passes went astray and Erling Haaland struggled to make much of an impact.
City then lost Kevin De Bruyne to a hamstring strain, and it really looked like it wasn’t going to be their day.
However, they never gave up and, with the game remaining scrappy in the second half, Rodri found the breakthrough – and the eventual winner – on 68 minutes.
A chance fell into the centre of the box for Rodri, who calmly slotted the ball into the bottom right-hand corner of the goal from 15 yards out, and the rest is history.