Rodri targets defeating Sheffield United as Manchester City bid to keep treble dream alive

Rodri hopes Manchester City's Champions League defeat of Bayern Munich marks another step along the road to the treble.

City finished off the German giants in their quarter-final tie on Wednesday as they claimed a 1-1 draw at the Allianz Arena to progress 4-1 on aggregate.

Their success took them through to a semi-final clash against Real Madrid but before they can think about avenging last year's loss at the same stage, they have pressing matters in other competitions.

Saturday sees Pep Guardiola's side take on Sheffield United for a place in the FA Cup final and then they host Arsenal in a crunch top-of-the-table Premier League clash four days later.

Should they come through both, the dream of scooping three trophies will be very much alive.

"That is what we work for," said the midfielder when asked about the triple aim. "It's a long way but the mentality is the next game.

"We have the FA Cup, which is very important for the club and for me. It'd be the first time I won it. We have a good rival in Sheffield (United)."

City have hit form coming into the business end of the season after an inconsistent first half of the campaign.

Prior to Wednesday's encounter, Pep Guardiola's side had won 10 successive games in all competitions.

It is a far cry from their results either side of the World Cup when they won only four of eight games and lost three.

Guardiola described City as a "happy flowers" team after one frustrating performance - essentially saying they were not fully focused - while for Rodri the low point was a draw at struggling Nottingham Forest in February.

The Spain international said: "We identified the fact that we needed to punish our rivals.

"The quality of the performance was there, we were playing good, but weren't as consistent as we are now.

"Now we know that if we want to achieve everything then every game is a final and we have to win. It's not enough to play good, you need to punish (opponents).

"I remember the game in Nottingham, these kind of games cannot happen. That is where we have improved. You've seen in the last months that almost every chance we score.

"Sometimes when you have bad news or bad moments, it can make you grow. From that moment we switched on."

City faced a barrage of pressure in the first half in Munich as Bayern attempted to turn around the tie.

The matter was finally put beyond all doubt by Erling Haaland as he netted his 48th goal of an astonishing campaign in the 57th minute, making amends for an earlier penalty miss.

Joshua Kimmich pulled one back with a late spot-kick but City had long since booked a last-four date with holders and 14-time champions Real Madrid.

Rodri is looking forward to the rematch.

He said: "Always when you have a big defeat you learn, you have more experience. The team is going to give its best and try to make it different."

<p>The article <a href="https://www.planetsport.com/soccer/news/rodri-targets-defeating-sheffield-united-manchester-city-bid-keep-treble-dream-alive">Rodri targets defeating Sheffield United as Manchester City bid to keep treble dream alive </a> appeared first on Planetsport.com.</p>