Rodri says Manchester City must be prepared to suffer when they face Real Madrid in the Champions League this week - just as they did vs Atletico Madrid in the previous round.
City edged past Atletico 1-0 in the last round in a physical quarter-final that saw the Blues show great patience to break down an extremely stubborn defence. Real will offer a different threat tactically, but Rodri says City must give the same amount of commitment as they did against Atletico to have a chance of reaching the final.
"These things happen in the competition," he said. "Teams play, they are good teams, and we have to suffer sometimes. You cannot expect to be 90 minutes attacking, you have to defend also and be aware we have to defend and suffer sometimes.
ALSO READ: Rodri admits Man City worries about facing Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema
"It is part of Champions League football and we learned in the last years these situations and are improving a lot. We have to be calm, be mentally strong in the bad moments and just show the football we have. I think we are better but we have to show on the pitch."
Asked whether Real will offer more of a mental than physical challenge, Rodri pointed to the different states of the Premier League title race and Real's more comfortable lead in La Liga.
He replied: "It’s a balance. You see the leagues and they are almost done and here we are still fighting. We have two big teams like Liverpool and us and we are going to the end. It’s like this. This is the way to win a Premier League.
"They push us, we push them but we look to ourselves and don’t really need anyone to push us. But the level is right up here, so we have to improve and improve every year."
