Pep Guardiola, Barcelona's joint red card record holder, tells Rodri to 'control himself'

Rodri walks past Pep Guardiola following his red card in Manchester City's win over Nottingham Forest in September 2023.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has called for Rodri to 'control himself' after the midfielder was sent off in the champions' 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest on Saturday.

Rodri was handed a straight red card for grabbing Morgan Gibbs-White by the neck in the early stages of the second half and City had to negotiate virtually the entire second half with 10 men.

It made little difference in the end as City rarely looked troubled, but last season's treble winners will now be without Rodri for the next three matches – including a huge clash against Arsenal on October 8th.

"Hopefully Rodri will learn. Rodri has to control himself and his emotions," Guardiola tole reporters after the game.

"This is what he has to do. I can get a yellow card, but Rodri cannot get a yellow card, I do not play.

"The guys inside have to be careful. I cannot control myself, but I do not play. Soon I will be in the stands because I will get enough yellow cards."

As a player, Guardiola often found it difficult to control himself and to this day, he holds the joint record for the most red cards for any player at the Catalan club.

At Camp Nou, the midfielder was sent off eight times, which is the most along with his former team-mate Hristo Stoichkov and recently retired centre-back Gerard Pique.

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Rodri recently called for action to be taken to stop European football losing more stars to Saudi Arabia.

City kicked off their Champions League defence with a win this week, but manager Pep Guardiola believes last season's treble winners are 'in trouble'.

Meanwhile, midfielder Bernardo Silva could leave City for a cut-price £50 million due to a special release clause.

Ben Hayward
Weekend editor

Ben Hayward is a European football writer and Tottenham Hotspur fan with over 15 years’ experience, he has covered games all over the world - including three World Cups, several Champions League finals, Euros, Copa America - and has spent much of that time in Spain. Ben speaks English and Spanish, currently dividing his time between Barcelona and London, covering all the big talking points of the weekend on FFT: he’s also written several list features and interviewed Guglielmo Vicario for the magazine.