Man City boss Pep Guardiola has cast verdict on Bernardo Silva complaint

“To be honest, I never get enough rest,” was the frank admission from Rodri following Manchester City’s Treble-winning campaign.

The midfielder played 56 matches across the whole season, more than every other teammate, having missed just five matches. And that excludes his outings for Spain.

At the time of his comments, Rodri was 27 years old, an age at which players are judged to be in their career prime. The midfielder followed up with 50 club matches last season before Spain’s triumphant Euro 2024 campaign, where he played all but one game en route to the final.

Rodri was forced off with injury at half-time in the showpiece against England and has yet to kick a competitive ball for Man City this term, having been allowed extra time to recover from his hamstring problem.

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From 2016, the European Championships expanded its competition to include 24 teams with an extra round-of-16 stage added. In hindsight, that was the first trigger for many other competitions to inflate, and in rapid time.

In 2017, FIFA chiefs unanimously voted for the 2026 World Cup to include 48 countries, while in 2021, UEFA drew up plans for the forthcoming expanded Champions League and Europa League formats. FIFA responded by bloating the Club World Cup from seven teams to 32.

And now, even the Nations League is incorporating a quarter-final stage for the best eight top-tier countries. Every last drop of space is being squeezed out of the calendar and there is a sense that breaking point is coming.

The expanded UEFA competitions mean that the League Cup has had to bite the bullet and alter its format.