Manchester City midfielder Rodri experienced a Champions League nightmare in Norway on Tuesday, receiving two yellow cards in a rapid 53-second sequence that saw him dismissed during his side’s shocking 3-1 defeat to Bodø/Glimt.
The red card, the first of his Champions League career, compounded a dismal personal performance and epitomized a humiliating evening for the reigning Ballon d’Or winner and his star-studded team.
The match was already unraveling for City when the disciplinary implosion occurred. Rodri had given the ball away in midfield in the 58th minute, leading directly to Bodø/Glimt’s spectacular third goal scored by Jens Petter Hauge.
Although City’s Rayan Cherki pulled a goal back two minutes later, any momentum was instantly shattered by Rodri’s loss of composure. In the 61st minute, he was shown a first yellow card for a trip on Hakon Evjen to halt a counter-attack.
Astonishingly, just 53 seconds later, he committed a near-identical offense, pulling back Ole Didrik Blomberg by the neck as the winger surged past him, earning a second caution and an inevitable red.
Pundits and former players were united in their criticism of the experienced Spaniard’s recklessness. “I’ve got to say I don’t think Rodri can have any complaints,” former Chelsea striker Chris Sutton said on BBC Radio 5 Live. “He had to go… It’s reckless from Rodri”.
On TNT Sports’ coverage, analyst Don Hutchison echoed the sentiment, noting, “Definite second yellow card as well. He grabs him around the neck and I saw it coming a mile off. He’s got all the experience in the world and he’s a tiny bit naive there. Now his team’s right in a hole”.
The dismissal forced City to play the final half-hour with ten men, extinguishing any realistic hope of a comeback against a brilliantly organized Bodø/Glimt side.
The consequence of the red card is a one-game suspension in the Champions League, meaning Rodri will miss City’s pivotal final league phase match at home to Galatasaray next week. This absence threatens to further destabilize a City campaign that has hit a rough patch, following a derby defeat to Manchester United just days prior.
The defeat in Bodø, a town of 55,000 located north of the Arctic Circle, was branded one of the most humiliating upsets in the competition’s history.
For Rodri, a player once considered the world’s best midfielder, the rapid double yellow cards capped what one report described as a “farcical” and “miserable” night, raising questions about his form and discipline at a critical juncture in City’s season.