Haaland and De Bruyne had nothing left in gruelling Real Madrid loss and Rodri is begging for a rest… but who out of the NINE players clocking 3000+ minutes has played the most? How Man City were run into the ground in quest for the double treble

“They couldn’t go on,” a sullen Pep Guardiola said of Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne after his Manchester City side were kicked out of the Champions League. “They asked me to leave.”

It’s telling when both your top scorer and your best playmaker run out of smoke in a match like this against Real Madrid. Both would likely have taken penalties in the penalty shootout in which they were ultimately defeated.

But every player has his limit. Every team has its breaking point. City appear to be achieving theirs after two testing seasons that have pushed them to their limits. The memories of winning the treble last season will live on forever for every player involved, but chasing the same dream back to back comes at a high cost.

Defender Manuel Akanji, who eventually ended up in midfield at the Etihad, also had to withdraw on Wednesday evening.

Footballers only have so much fuel in the tank and City’s squad now appears to be running out of steam ahead of another big cup tie against Chelsea on Saturday. As invincible as Man City have looked over the past year, this was a reminder that even the best fitness regime in the world can only do so much.

Pep Guardiola’s men appear to be reaching their breaking point after two grueling seasons in which they chased back-to-back trebles

Guardiola has done his best to rotate his squad as best as possible, but the number of games City are playing in – including the Club World Cup – seems completely unavoidable.

City can’t say they weren’t warned. Last summer, Rodri sounded the alarm because of the insane number of games he and his teammates played.

‘I don’t remember exactly which matches I played [last season]but I spoke to the club and the coach because starting 57 or 59 games and playing in 60 games or something like that is not healthy.

‘You can do it one season, but if it’s two or three seasons in a row it can be worse for the team because your physicality can decrease. So I have to be careful. We have already said that it cannot always be this way.

‘That’s why I sometimes feel bad at the end of the season. Now I’m young, but maybe I won’t be able to do this kind of thing when I’m 30 or 31, so I have to pay attention to my body because 60 games is not the best thing for a player.’

Before the second leg against Madrid, Rodri, who has played 3,617 minutes this season, reiterated his desire for a break. He was left out of the 5-1 win over Luton, but then played the full 120 minutes and penalties against LaLiga.

But Rodri isn’t the only one guiding the Manchester City stars through a tough run of games this season. The team has nine players in its squad who have played more than 3,000 minutes in all competitions this season.

That means that of all Premier League clubs, City have the most players who have played more than 3,000 minutes. Arsenal are second with eight. By comparison, Liverpool, who are also in contention for the title, have only had two reach that total.

Rodri has called for rest after playing 56 games last season before playing a further 3,617 minutes this season

The statistics show that Phil Foden has played the most minutes of all City players, followed by Rodri

Foden is one of nine Manchester City stars to have clocked more than 3,000 minutes this season

Phil Foden tops that list with a whopping 3678 minutes played. In the context of the Premier League, that only puts him in tenth place – with Arsenal’s William Saliba leading the way with an astonishing 3,962 minutes on the clock – but the fact that so many City players have reached a similar level is very eye-opening .

Foden has had an incredible season, but his crucial importance to this City team has meant that Guardiola has not been able to miss him, or Rodri, often either. The result is that City are top, but the knock-on effect is that his star men are now in low-battery mode.

The duo in the 3000+ club are joined by Ruben Dias with 3503 minutes, Kyle Walker (3395), Ederson (3334), Haaland (3281), Akanji (3207), Julian Alvarez (3160) and Bernardo Silva (3099).

It won’t be a surprise to see an exhausted Rodri in second place behind Foden. It can be seen for a total of 3617 minutes. Clearly his pleas about fatigue are falling on deaf ears.

Guardiola can’t run away from City’s attrition problem for long – he admits the club is in ‘big, big trouble’

It’s not over yet either. There are still one or two games to go in the FA Cup and then another six games in the Premier League that will decide the title. After that, most of Guardiola’s men will head to Germany for the 2024 European Championship.

Guardiola has tried many times to shrug off the issue, insisting that anyone who needs rest will get it, but the scale of the problem has now dawned on him.

“Look at our games and you’ll realize it,” he said after the first leg against Madrid, in response to Rodri’s latest concerns.

‘If you have a player who doesn’t want to play, he doesn’t play. I need to rest the middle halves too, but in [England’s] friendly matches, [John Stones and Kyle Walker] were injured so that they could not rest. We’re in big, big trouble.

After experiencing so many highs, it was only a matter of time before the inevitable low point. The Champions League is over and the players are on their feet. City could still end the season with two major trophies. But at what price?