Nottingham Forest defender Renan Lodi has named Manchester City winger Riyad Mahrez as the toughest player he has marked.
The Blues attacker has scored 15 times this season, albeit failed to score in the 14 minutes he faced Lodi in September’s 6-0 win over Forest. Lodi, though, did come up against the Algerian twice in last year’s Champions League quarter-final against Atletico Madrid.
The 25-year-old kept Mahrez at bay in both matches but City would ultimately go through thanks to Kevin De Bruyne’s first-leg goal. It seems Lodi has not forgotten about the experience and named the former Leicester man as the most difficult player he’s had to deal with.
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Speaking to ESPN Brasil (as per Sport Witness), he said: “In my opinion, the hardest player I’ve marked was City’s Mahrez. He’s a player who is pulling things out of his hat at all times.
“You don’t know if you go quickly, if you wait for him to touch the ball more. If you move first, you get nutmegged, you get one-twoed.”
Mahrez netted a hat-trick in the 3-0 FA Cup semi-final win over Sheffield United last month and has grabbed four assists in his last three Premier League games.
Hailing the 32-year-old after the win at Wembley, Pep Guardiola said: “He is an exceptional player, his playing is exceptional on the biggest stages and he has the mentality to score a goal.
“So satisfied for Riyad because he loves to play football, he's given many, many things in these years and hopefully more in the future. Riyad plays good in every game, also in decisive games, he loves to play football.
“He is not a guy who has a contract, has to do his job, thinks how many hours I have to train, do my job and go home. Completely the opposite. He loves to be in contact with the ball, that's why when he's upset [not] to play is because he wants to play.”
Of his 42 matches this season, Mahrez has started 32 albeit failed to come off the bench in the Champions League quarter-final win over Bayern Munich and in the first leg of the semi-final against Real Madrid.
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