Manchester City midfielder Rodri believes it will not be important that Jack Grealish lacks Champions League experience against RB Leipzig, via the Manchester Evening News.
Pep Guardiola’s outfit begin their latest quest for UEFA silverware at home to RB Leipzig on Wednesday night. Chelsea beat the Citizens 1-0 at the last hurdle of the 2020/21 edition, with Kai Havertz scoring the only goal of the game in City’s first Champions League final.
Manchester City retained 13 of the 14 players who featured in Porto, with Sergio Aguero the only to depart. Guardiola did not replace the Argentine, but paid Aston Villa £100m to take Grealish to the Etihad Stadium. Breaking the British transfer record in the process.
Grealish joined Rodri at Manchester City having only played domestic football over his 213 career first-team appearances for Aston Villa. The Birmingham-born maestro had also only represented England on 12 occasions, eight times in competitive games. He has featured three further times since joining the Sky Blues during this month’s World Cup qualifiers.
Rodri believes the displays Grealish had produced with the Villans and England to convince Guardiola to break the British transfer record is enough for the Manchester City midfielder to cope with the challenge of playing Champions League football.
“Jack is a young guy, he was 26 the other day [Friday],” Rodri said. “He played at Aston Villa, so doesn’t have much European experience. But that’s not important. We want his level, his quality, the way he fits into the team.”
Should Manchester City start Grealish and Rodri against RB Leipzig?
Grealish could make his Champions League debut on Wednesday night when Manchester City host RB Leipzig. It may be a new experience for the 15-cap Three Lions international, but he has performed against top-level opposition before.
The £300k-a-week playmaker has only faced Leicester City more often than he has faced Arsenal. And over his nine meetings with the Gunners, he boasts three assists – including one during City’s 5-0 rout last month.
Grealish also boasts two goals and four assists over four meetings with Liverpool across all competitions. He has netted once and assisted once in three encounters with Manchester United, too. Guardiola will hope he adds to either tally should he play on Wednesday night.
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