Manchester City midfielder Rodri declined to engage directly with speculation linking him to Real Madrid after his side were beaten 3–0 by Los Blancos in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16. Speaking to Cadena SER, the Spaniard avoided a clear answer and left the possibility open.

“I’m not going to answer that,” Rodri said in regards to a potential move the Bernabéu. “It’s a moment to think about what we have now, with my team, in my season, and then we’ll see.”

The context for the interest is clear in public reporting: Real Madrid have signed some of the biggest names in the sport over the last two years but have still failed to replace Toni Kroos and Luka Modrić. On paper the club already had a long list of midfielders available, yet the creative void remains.

Xabi Alonso attempted to mould Federico Valverde or Arda Güler into the next Kroos, but neither player could match the almost impossible standard set by the German playmaker. Alonso also tried to deploy Bellingham in a deeper role to cover the lack of creativity, but the England international was occupied with tracking back for teammates and cleaning up mistakes rather than producing magic outside his No. 10 role.

Aurélien Tchouaméni and Eduardo Camavinga have been characterised as too defensive-minded to consistently pull the strings of the attack, leaving Real Madrid with a glaring hole in their squad. That is a vacancy the club would likely seek to fill from another team.

Real Madrid have not hidden their admiration for Rodri, and previous reports suggested they hoped to use the midfielder’s dwindling contract with City to acquire him at a lower cost. If the Sky Blues do not cash in this summer or next winter, they could watch him leave as a free agent in June 2027. Even worse than losing their Ballon d’Or winner would be to lose him for free.

Pep Guardiola admitted he made a selection mistake after Manchester City’s 1–1 draw with West Ham United, conceding he “deserved” the criticism for not starting Rayan Cherki. City produced 24 efforts and forced Mads Hermansen into five saves, yet they struggled to create clear openings against a stubborn rearguard.

Antoine Semenyo, deployed in an unfamiliar central attacking midfield role rather than the centre forward tandem he has often occupied, found chances difficult to come by. It was suggested to Guardiola that Cherki, who was fresh after not starting the midweek Champions League collapse to Real Madrid, would have been better suited to that lock-picking position. “You are right, yeah. Absolutely. For that role, absolutely. There is no-one better than him,” the manager conceded. Cherki only entered the game for the final half-hour.

Guardiola did not deflect responsibility. “Bad selection,” he sighed, “now you can criticize me incredibly, for the selection, now I deserve it.” He placed the decision in the context of balance, explaining the risks of fielding certain attacking combinations: “We learned in the beginning [of the season] that when we played Erling [Haaland] in that moment with Jérémy [Doku] or Cherki that we are incredibly unbalanced, we do not have the stability that teams in the Premier League have to have and that is why I try to handle it for that.

“It’s a team that is growing, I think that from the beginning we’ve grown a lot but still it is not finished business. It is like that sometimes but I will not say that I don’t love playing with Rayan, especially when he came from the bench, always the impact is unbelievable.

“But sometimes he has not the speed. The team is always stable when Semenyo and Nico O’Reilly play in the winger position and go inside, arrive to the box, they are really, really good. I’m finding still the best way to have stability and consistency in the team.”

Guardiola contrasted Saturday’s match with City’s 3–1 FA Cup victory over Newcastle United a week earlier, and acknowledged that after the 3–0 reverse at the Bernabéu they now face a mountain in both the Champions League and Premier League. That Bernabéu defeat began with a front-footed 4-2-4 that “largely worked for the first 20 minutes,” until Fede Valverde scored and “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.”

With City nine points behind Arsenal, Rodri accepted the gap: “Maybe yes, maybe no,” he said. “We’re not going to drop hands, we’re going to keep fighting. We know it’s going to be difficult because we have this experience of what you need to win at the end. I think the distance is too far but we’re going to fight until the end.”

Antoine Semenyo and Pep Guardiola were named February’s individual Premier League award winners, a small reprieve after City’s midweek defeat to Real Madrid.

Just three days after signing off for Bournemouth with a stoppage-time winner against Tottenham Hotspur, Semenyo continued his momentum at Manchester City. The Ghana international scored on his first Premier League appearance at the Etihad as a Sky Blue against Wolverhampton Wanderers and netted three times across five top-flight fixtures in February. “This is a brilliant moment for me,” the versatile winger beamed via club channels following his first-ever triumph in this particular individual award. “To win the Premier League Player of the Month award so soon after joining City is something I’ll never forget.

“My focus now is on continuing to improve and helping City to achieve the best possible results. We have so much to play for and I am really excited about this final period of the season.”

Bruno Fernandes’s assimilation on the other side of Manchester was noted for its speed. The former Sporting CP captain only signed for United at the end of January 2020 but made enough of an impact across his first three Premier League appearances to be voted player of the month. “I have been here for two days and I already have a song!” he smiled at the time.

Pep Guardiola completed a city double by taking the manager award, ensuring a clean sweep of the individual prizes for Manchester City in February. Arsenal’s closest title challengers were the only side to boast four wins last month, collecting five more points than the division’s current leaders. The disappointing 2–2 draw with Nottingham Forest at the start of March fell outside the consideration period.

City’s 3–0 defeat to Real Madrid was also not part of the voting process. Bernardo Silva described the scene in City’s dressing room as “really bad, really dark” after the Bernabéu reverse. The Daily Mail report that the beaten players were “disconsolate” and “couldn’t even bring themselves to shower.” Despite skipping a scrub, they still conspired to board the team coach back to the hotel “far later than normal.” It is thought to have been a silent ride. “In these weeks we’re not going to win a lot but we can lose a lot,” Bernardo warned. Two of his City colleagues have walked away with a pair of individual triumphs this month but they will naturally have loftier collective ambitions for the season’s conclusion.