Rodri admits it will be ‘impossible’ to catch Arsenal if they keep up their relentless form

Manchester City midfielder Rodri has said it will be “impossible” to catch leaders Arsenal if they maintain their form from the first half of the season.

Arsenal lead City in the table by five points ahead of their first Premier League game of the season at the Emirates on Wednesday night. The reigning champions defeated the league leaders in the FA Cup late last month.

Rodri, 26, said he and his teammates remain “cool” about their prospects but seemed to admit there was little they could do if Arsenal’s impressive first half of the season extended into the final months.

“Each year it is more complicated, the level of this league is tremendous and you have to win it with almost 90-odd points,” he said. DAZN.

“We are calm, we know that there is a long way to go and we are going in the right direction. It is true that Arsenal have had an impressive first half of the season.

Rodri has said it will be ‘impossible’ to catch Arsenal if they keep up their impressive start to the season

“Obviously, if they maintain that level and are able to do the same in the second half, it will be impossible.”

The Spaniard’s comments come after a tumultuous week at City in which the Premier League accused them of 115 breaches of its financial rules, dating back to the 2009-10 campaign.

Pep Guardiola came out on Friday at his pre-Aston Villa press conference. He declared City already ‘sentenced’ for the alleged offences, named the nine clubs that lobbied the Court of Arbitration for Sport to uphold their ban from competing in Europe and said the charges made him want to stay at City more than ever.

However, the Spaniard said he and his teammates remain calm about their prospects.

“My first thought is that we are already being doomed,” he said. ‘What has happened this week is the same as what happened with UEFA. With UEFA we were doomed.

“We are lucky to live in a wonderful country where we have a society where everyone is innocent until proven guilty. We did not have this opportunity. We are already sentenced and “hard”.

‘I am completely convinced that we will be innocent, and then what will happen next? Will it stop now?

“One week after UEFA made a statement against us, nine teams: Burnley, Wolves, Leicester, Newcastle, Spurs, Arsenal, [Manchester] United, Liverpool, Chelsea wrote that they want us out of the Champions League,’ he added.

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‘Like Julius Caesar, they are not in this world, they are not enemies or friends, just interests. They wanted to turn it off to take that position that we won on the field, take it in our position. Now it is no different, absolutely zero.

‘Personally, I’m happy we’re here. I think we have good lawyers, but we cannot say that UEFA has bad, bad lawyers. I think the Premier League, supported by 19 teams to defend itself, will also have good lawyers to defend its position.”

Before the charges, Guardiola had insisted that his team could not think of the Premier League title after their defeat by Tottenham a week ago.

The defeat ensured that City could not close the five-point gap with Arsenal, Arteta’s side having been defeated a day earlier at the hands of a resurgent Everton.

“We are not in a position to think about being champions,” he said.

‘The position is the next game, Aston Villa. We have a week, we are going to prepare well, and we are going to play our game to the best of our ability.

Against that team it has happened many times. Tottenham are a fantastic squad, team and manager. They punish you. Every time we arrive, I get the feeling that they don’t need much to beat us.