Rodri departs Manchester City saying having scored the goal that secured the Club’s maiden UEFA Champions League triumph – and historic Treble – was the realisation of a lifelong dream.
Rodri joins Barcelona
The 30-year-old has joined Barcelona, subject to international clearance, after chalking up 298 appearances and winning 14 major honours across a magnificent seven years at City.
Having joined in 2019, the Spaniard has gone on to become one of the best players in the world, winning the 2024 Ballon d’Or and leading Spain to World Cup and European Championship success.
Rodri’s incredible City career was capped by him scoring the winning goal in the 2023 UEFA Champions League final win over Internazionale – a success that sealed both a maiden European Cup and iconic Treble.
And reflecting on his time at the Club in a farewell interview with City Studios, Rodri said that night in Istanbul was a moment he would savour for ever.
“To be part of the first Champions League and [be] the guy to score in that final, it is a privilege,” Rodri recalled.
“It was a dream that we were pursuing all these years.
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My heart will always be blue, says Rodri
“The idea of the club was to go in that direction to be the best club in the world.
“To complete this story with the way we did it and of course with the goal and [show] that we could stand up for difficult situations like the previous one we lost, it was just incredible
“It talks about how tough it is in life to achieve things. It lets the people know that all the process and the years, it was not normal what we did.
“Arriving to this Champions League win with my goal was very special.
“When it comes to my mind, I think of my team-mates and the fans, all the love they gave me and the years I gave them back.
“For me, it was the climax of the process.
Rodri: A true legend of the game
“I remember we made group chat of all the Treble winners and [then] Four-In-A-Row to remember these moments that were very significant for the Club that is still growing.”
During Rodri’s illustrious time at the Club, the motto that underscored so much of City’s remarkable litany of success was to ‘Fight ‘Til the End.’
And nowhere was that mindset better illustrated than in City’s remarkable 3-2 comeback success against Aston Villa on the last day of the 2021/22 season that sealed the most dramatic of Premier League title wins.
Needing to win to hold off the challenge of a relentless Liverpoo, City instead found ourselves 2-0 down midway through the second half.
The omens looked bleak.
However City dug deep to stage one of the most incredible turnarounds of the modern era, scoring three times in five minutes with Rodri’s leveller sandwiched between two Ilkay Gundogan strikes – to seal the most remarkable of title wins.
I’ve grown from a kid to a man at City – Rodri
Reflecting back on that memorable afternoon, Rodri said it was a moment that served as the perfect example as to how everyone can navigate the seemingly toughest of challenges and scenarios.
“It was one of those moments in life that is a real, real challenge,” Rodri recalled.
“I was very young. We had an incredible team but we were facing one of the best teams in the world at that time in Liverpool.
“We all know the challenges and the fights. We arrived to the last game with the game in our hands to win it.
“This talks about life and how life doesn’t always put things in the way you would think it would.
“I remember in that moment, your brain and body tries to lose itself and put the arms down and give up.
Gallery: 20 memorable photographs from Rodri’s City career
“I remember that it clicked that we couldn’t do it that way.
“It’s a lesson for the next generation that in the good moments we were a champion team and in the bad moments we could go through what we went through.
“I remember we were out of the Champions League semi-finals a few weeks earlier and we still had to fight in the Premier League.
“We found the fire inside to change the situation and make City champions again.
“Being champions again, helped us to win two more [titles] in the next years and be even more successful.”