With April shaping up to be a month of destiny for the Blues, our towering midfielder says that each and every game needs to be treated as a cup final with so much at stake in the Premier League, Champions League, and FA Cup.
City trail leaders Arsenal by eight points - though the Gunners have played one game more – and face a crunch match against Liverpool on Saturday lunchtime – and Rodrigo says the clash with the Merseysiders will be one of the toughest of the season.
“The rivalry is always there, no matter what the situation is of each team. It has always been a big rivalry in the last few years,” said Rodrigo.
“I think it is going to be one of the toughest games of the season.
“We need to show the best version of ourselves again because we are in the situation where we must win every game. It is going to be a final.
“My first game for City was against Liverpool in the Community Shield which we won.
“Of course, that year they won the Premier League, then we won it the next few years. They have an unbelievable team.
“We are always fighting against them and have had lots of big games at the Etihad and Anfield. There are lots of memories in the last few years.”
Rodrigo says City and Liverpool have raised the bar in the Premier League over the past five years or so.
With so many tense battles for the title, he says the standards have increased each season with very little margin for error from those competing at the top.
“It has been great for the league, the fans, the way we both achieved the Premier League titles with 90-something points,” he said.
“These are the standards we have both set and that is why now the other teams like Arsenal know what they have to do to win it.
“The reality is there, and the pressure is always there. You have to win, win, and win and that is the reality of the last four or five years.”
And on Arsenal swapping places with Liverpool as our main title rivals this season, Rodrigo said: “It seems like they just changed shirts! The fact they are having the same performance with consistency in the league.
“Liverpool is always there. I always say this every year, but they are very competitive with Klopp, and they showed the level.
“Maybe this year they struggled a bit, but they are always competitive, and we have to be aware tomorrow.
“The level of the league is like this. If you drop a little bit, the level, and the results, it can happen.
“That is why Pep always says it is not normal that we are there all of the time.
“That is why we have to keep going and every year we have to keep trying to improve to meet the standards to be there and fight again, but it is not easy.
“We always have to be the best version of ourselves if we want to fight again.”
