City can have best ever season - Rodri

CITY can still record their best ever season by winning the FA Cup and Champions League, according to midfielder Rodri.

City won the Community Shield and Carabao Cup earlier this season to give them nine of the last ten domestic trophies available, but Liverpool’s confirmation as Premier League champions last week makes it nine from eleven.

With the title finally confirmed, City have made no secret of their intention to prioritise the FA Cup semi-final with Arsenal later this month as well as the

Champions League tournament which will re-start with City’s last-16 second leg against Real Madrid in August.

Reflecting on City’s comprehensive 4-0 victory over Liverpool, in their first game after being confirmed as champions, Rodri said City put down a marker for next season’s title race.

“I think the mentality of the boys was that we started next season [on Thursday],” he explained. “We need to start right now if we want to fight for the next one.

“For sure it is going to be the future. We showed that we are the two strongest teams in England. We have been L K successful in the last few years and they won the Premier League, but you never know.

“There are also many other good teams in the Premier League that are doing good things and you never know.”

Next season may be on City’s mind when it comes to winning back the Premier League, but Rodri insists the squad are fully focussed on winning the two remaining trophies they are competing for – something that he says would give City their best ever season.

He continued: “We do our best, we try to stay fit because we have two competitions left and we need the participation of everyone to be fit.

“Of course, this is an important victory for us and what it means because there is nothing in the game, but we are happy with it.

“This is football. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose, but I am so happy about my season and our season. We have two trophies already, we are fighting for another two, and this could be an unbelievable season for us if we win those two – it will be the best season this club has ever made.

“We want to fight. This is not over. We wanted to win the Premier League but we couldn’t, so it is OK, we are going to fight for the others.”

“We have to take it step-by-step. We are focused on next season but this season hasn’t ended so we have to focus on this one. There are many things we can achieve and we will think about next season.”