Manchester City hold Rodri hope over potential UEFA ban and Champions League impact | OneFootball

Premier League champions Manchester City are hopeful that any ban issued to Rodri by UEFA for his recent antics with the Spanish national team will not impact their season.

The Manchester City defensive midfielder was charged by UEFA earlier this week after “deeply offensive” chanting about Gibraltar during Spain’s European Championship-winning celebrations in the Spanish capital.

The 28-year-old, alongside Alvaro Morata and his Spain teammates, sang “Gibraltar es Espanol” (Gibraltar is Spanish) on 15 July, with the actions of the named pair leading to an official complaint from the Gibraltar Football Association labelling it as “deeply offensive”.

The pair have now been charged under Article 11 of UEFA’s disciplinary code, where it is alleged that they both violated basic rules of decent conduct, using a sporting event for a manifestation of a non-sporting nature, and brought the sport into disrepute.

UEFA have also said its control, ethics and disciplinary body (CEDB) would decide on the matter in due course, and an update from Manchester City sources have issued their feeling on the situation ahead of the start of a new club season.

According to the information of MailSport’s Jack Gaughan, Manchester City are hopeful that any ban handed to Rodri by UEFA for his ‘Gibraltar is Spanish’ chant during Spain’s European Championship celebrations will not impact their Champions League campaign.

Manchester City will be competing in UEFA’s newly-expanded Champions League competition this season, having finished in the Premier League’s top-four places and claiming the top-flight title for a fourth successive season.

The 2024/25 edition of the competition has seen the formerly-known ‘group stage’ become a single 36-team league stage, with each side facing eight different teams (four at home, four away), with the top-eight overall advancing directly into the round of 16.

UEFA have also revealed that sides finishing from ninth to 24th will contest the knockout round play-offs, with the victors going through to the last 16, before the tournament reverts to its usual straight knockout format.

Matchday 1 on the new UEFA Champions League format will get underway from 17–19 September 2024, while the remainder of the new league stage format is expected to be scheduled for the following dates:

Matchday 2: 1/2 October 2024Matchday 3: 22/23 October 2024Matchday 4: 5/6 November 2024Matchday 5: 26/27 November 2024Matchday 6: 10/11 December 2024Matchday 7: 21/22 January 2025Matchday 8: 29 January 2025