Manchester City struck with Rodri injury fear just 20 minutes into Brentford game

Manchester City midfielder Rodri has been forced off the field with injury just 20 minutes into their Premier League match with Brentford after going down unchallenged.

It was a positive start for City, who opened the scoring with less than 10 minutes on the clock, after Erling Haaland muscled past Sepp van den Berg to latch on to a Josko Gvardiol ball, shifted past another defender and fired the ball home for the opener.

But that mood was dampened somewhat by the unexpected Rodri setback.

Rodri suffers worrying injury setback against Brentford

The Ballon d'Or winner spent much of last season injured, suffering an ACL injury against Arsenal just over 12 months ago, following a packed schedule that saw him go all the way in Euro 2024 with Spain.

He has been similarly busy in 2025 since his return, turning out for the Sky Blues in the Club World Cup across the Atlantic, before building his minutes back up quickly in the current Premier League campaign.

But that recovery journey looks to have a new worrying update, as Rodri went down under no challenge from a Brentford player, clutching the back of his leg.

City's medical staff rushed onto the pitch, but it was quickly apparent he was unable to continue, and Gonzalez was hastily prepared to replace him.

The Spaniard looked dejected as he slumped onto the ground with the injury, indicating that he perhaps expects he'll be facing some time away.

Sky Sports reporter Gary Cotterill, on location at the Gtech Community Stadium, said: "Sad to see that, for all football lovers. Even Brentford fans are applauding Rodri off the pitch."

This will come as a huge blow not just for Rodri, but for City and Pep Guardiola too.

Gonzalez was brought in to alleviate some of the pressure on Rodri, but so far the latter has been preferred on almost every occasion for the control and calmness he offers the Sky Blues in the centre.

There are few players who offer what Rodri offer, and with an already relatively mixed start to the season for Guardiola's side, losing their main midfielder is not going to help matters.

Rodri is worth €110m, according to Transfermarkt.