Guardiola: Rodri will continue to miss another week of games and Kovacic needs to be used with caution

Manchester City coach Guardiola confirmed in an interview that Rodri will miss the Champions League away game against Villarreal and said that the team needs to be cautious about Kovacic's return.

Rodri missed most of last season due to a knee injury, and he was injured again in the game against Brentford before the international break. In this regard, Guardiola said that the Spanish international will not be absent for a long time, but he is not expected to participate in the next week's game.

Guardiola said: "I don't think he can play in Tuesday's Champions League game, and it is unlikely to play against Aston Villa. His injury is not serious, but there is a muscle problem. We have to be careful. We tried many times to prevent him from getting injured again, but failed, so we will see."

In the victory over Everton, Shirki and Kovacic returned from injury. For Kovacic, it was his first appearance since undergoing Achilles tendon surgery in the summer. Guardiola was impressed with his performance and credited Kovacic and substitute Bernardo Silva with helping his team control the game.

"He has a special ability to control the ball, but we can't forget that he has just recovered from surgery and has not played for four months," Guardiola said. "I don't want him to play 90 minutes in a row. As time goes by, he will gradually adapt, but now I feel that he is still Can't play the whole game. Kovacic, together with the B seat and other senior players, performed very well for 20 minutes, 30 minutes or 60 minutes."

O'Reilly also performed well against Everton, providing an assist for Haaland's first goal in the second half. He was substituted late in the game after receiving treatment for an injury, but Guardiola hopes he will be available for the rest of the Champions League. "I think it's just a small injury," Guardiola added. "We'll see what happens, but I don't think it's going to be serious."