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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Sport
Dan Brown

Andy Robertson hits back at Rodri over 'rubbish' claim ahead of Man City vs Liverpool clash

Andy Robertson hit back at Rodri after the Manchester City ace suggested Scotland's tactics were "rubbish" in Spain's 2-0 defeat in the Euro 2024 qualifier.

Scotland secured a famous victory over Spain at Hampden Park on Tuesday night, with Manchester United midfielder Scott McTominay grabbing a brace. The result saw Steve Clarke's side move to the top of Group A with two wins from two matches.

However, they came under criticism after the game from City star Rodri, who slammed Scotland and the way they set up to play. The 26-year-old suggested Clarke's men were 'wasting time' and 'provoking' the Spaniards throughout the clash.

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"It's the way they play," said Rodri. "You have to respect it but for me, it's a bit rubbish. Because it's always wasting time. They provoke you, they always fall. For me, this is not football. For the spirit of the sport, you have to move on. The referee has to take control of this but he says nothing."

Liverpool left-back Robertson was quick to dismiss the claim about Scotland's game plan against Spain - instead insisting they were simply keen to be physical throughout and get in their opponents' faces.

"Yeah look, I think they were going down a little bit easily, we were trying to say that," Robertson told Viaplay Sports. "We were always going to try to be physical, we wanted to be in their faces, win our headers and challenges and I think we did that.

"I don’t think we crossed the line. They were, especially in the first half, rolling about a wee bit much but they use their experience and they got a couple of us booked which is fair enough to them."

Rodri and Robertson are likely to come face-to-face at the weekend, with the Blues welcoming Liverpool to the Etihad Stadium for a Premier League clash on Saturday.

Pep Guardiola's side will be looking to close the gap on league-leaders Arsenal ahead of the Gunners' game against Leeds. City currently sit eight points behind Mikel Arteta's men, but the Blues do have a game in hand.

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