Ever since his injury, Rodri set one clear goal in his mind—to return to the pitch before the end of the current season. Despite suffering one of football’s most serious injuries, an ACL tear, in late September, last season’s officially crowned best player in the world has expressed his desire to help Manchester City in their pursuit of trophies.If everything goes according to plan, he could even contribute to the most valuable of them all—the Champions League trophy—since the English champions have registered him for the knockout phase of the competition.BREAKING: Rodri named in Man City’s Champions League squad 🚨 pic.twitter.com/4Km2wHsIlD— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) February 7, 2025 In reality, City simply “confirmed” his place in the squad, as Rodri was already registered for the group stage. However, this does not guarantee that the Spanish midfielder will feature in the Champions League—both because he might not recover in time and because City could be eliminated before his return, especially with a tough Round of 16 clash against Real Madrid in mid-February.Rodri certainly won’t be available for that tie, but Omar Marmoush, Nico Gonzalez, and Abduqodir Khusanov—City’s three winter signings—will be.UCL draw: Blockbuster clash as Man City face off with Real MadridThe only player who did not make the list was Vitor Reis, the Brazilian center-back who arrived from Palmeiras in January, as well as Claudio Echeverri, who was never expected to be included since he is currently representing Argentina at the South American U20 Championship, which overlaps with Champions League match dates.UEFA had already announced that teams could only make three squad changes from the group stage, so it was clear from the start that two newcomers would have to miss out. Additionally, since City does not meet the requirement of having eight homegrown players, they were only allowed to register 23 players.Manchester City have submitted their new List A squad for the #UCL:Ederson, Ortega Moreno, Carson, Akanji, Ake, Dias, Stones, Khusanov, Gvardiol; Nico Gonzalez, Gundogan, Grealish, De Bruyne, Bernardo, Rodri, Kovacic, Nunes, McAtee, Foden, Doku, Savinho, Haaland, Marmoush. pic.twitter.com/FIsLzkrk0j— mcfc lads (@mcfc_lads) February 7, 2025 There is no Rico Lewis on the list, but since clubs can place U21 players who have been with the team for three or more years on the “B list” without taking up additional squad spots, he has been registered that way. Oscar Bobb, Max Alleyne, and Nico O’Reilly are also included on the B list.FA CUP – ROUND 4Friday 23.00: (1.40) Man.Utd. (5.30) Leicester (8.00)Saturday 15.15: (1.43) Leeds (4.40) Millwall (8.00)15.15: (18.0) Leyton (11.0) Man.City (1.10)18.00: (3.00) Coventry (3.40) Ipswich (2.35)18.00: (2.85) Everton (3.40) Bournemouth (2.45)18.00: (2.20) Preston (3.40) Wycombe (3.30)18.00: (1.85) Southampton (3.50) Burnley (4.40)18.00: (2.20) Stoke (3.40) Cardiff (3.30)18.00: (11.0) Wigan (6.00) Fulham (1.25)20.45: (6.50) Birmingham (4.40) Newcastle (1.50)23.00: (3.00) Brighton (3.50) Chelsea (2.30)Sunday 15.30: (5.30) Blackburn (3.60) Wolverhampton (1.70)18.00: (19.0) Plymouth (8.50) Liverpool (1.13)20.35: (1.80) Aston Villa (3.70) Tottenham (4.40)Monday 22.45: (10.5) Doncaster (6.50) Crystal Palace (1.25)***odds are subject to change***
