Rodri v Zubimendi - the battle for a Spain spot

Manchester City were all over Arsenal early in the second half on Sunday when Rodri spread his arms calling for the ball on the edge of the area.

Rayan Cherki instantly spotted him and picked him out.

Rodri controlled it and fired it right away.

The low shot looked destined for the bottom-right corner of Kepa's goal, but Martin Zubimendi got in the way and blocked his fellow Spaniard's effort.

Ultimately, Rodri came out on top as City won 2-0 at Wembley to lift the Carabao Cup.

But the battle of the two midfielders is far from over. It resumed on Monday when both of them reported to the Spanish national team camp in Madrid before the friendlies against Serbia and Egypt.

Not only are they still fighting for the Premier League title, but also for a starting place with the European champions.

That's one of the main debates in Spain before this summer's World Cup.

Can Rodri and Zubimendi play together?

Spain head coach Luis de la Fuente has had to address this question so often during the past few months that he's now reached a point where he's simply anticipating it in interviews.

"After all the setbacks he went through, Rodrigo is back at a high level. I've said before that he is the best in the world, but also on those same occasions that we are very fortunate," De La Fuente told TVE..

"After all, in that position, the number 6 role, we have the two best players in the world: Rodrigo and Martin [Zubimendi].

"So I will get ahead of a question you are probably going to ask: can they play together? Of course they can play together."

The 64-year-old boss has yet to truly put that into practice, however.

He's done it once, but that was quite circumstantial. It took place in the 2024 Euro semi-finals against France, when Zubimendi came off the bench in the 93rd minute.

For most of their time at Las Rozas headquarters in Madrid, it's been either one or the other.

Rodri had long been undroppable and even had a say within the dressing room in how the team played, but his last start was in September 2024 against Switzerland.

In his absence, Zubimendi has made such an impact that what once felt unquestionable no longer does: there's life without the 2024 Ballon d'Or winner.

The first clues to what comes next could arrive on Friday when Spain face Serbia in Villarreal.

There has been no Spain without Rodri or Zubimendi in midfield.

Of De la Fuente's 3,300 minutes since taking over in March 2023, only 268 were played without at least one of them on the pitch – 67 against Andorra in June 2024; 21 against Denmark in November 2024; 90 against Switzerland in November 2024; and 90 against Turkey in November 2025.

The duo's dominance has been such that, when Rodri suffered a knee ligament injury in September 2024, he dropped a message to Zubimendi.

"I'm leaving you the keys of the team," he wrote to his compatriot at Arsenal.

The City maestro now finds himself in a situation where he's not sure whether he will have them back. He's no stranger to that kind of competition, though.

"That sounds familiar. It was not so long ago that it was [Sergio] Busquets and me. It's a joy to have players of such a high level in every position," he said.

In the 2022 World Cup, however, the solution the coach at the time, Luis Enrique, came up with to accommodate both of them was playing Rodri as a centre-back. It's unlikely that De la Fuente will go down the same road this summer.

In that case, he will either have to field an unprecedented double pivot – despite his public preference for a 6, an 8 and a 10 in his line of three in midfield – or leave one of them on the bench. That is not ruled out.

"Yes, we can play that way [with a double pivot] perfectly well," De la Fuente said in an interview with Despejados podcast.

"In my idea of football, they [Rodri and Zubimendi] may occupy a similar role, but they are different players with different characteristics. In fact, Martin is getting into the box more now and scoring goals, but he also has the qualities of a positional player, with balance and outstanding tactical awareness. Rodri has those same qualities too, so having them there gives us security, that kind of structure."

"But at the same time, you have to remember that only 11 can start. Then you would ask me: what about Pedri? And Fermin [Lopez]? And Fabian [Ruiz]?"

This whole dilemma is not particularly new for Spain.

The last time the country won the World Cup in 2010, it faced the same debate prior to the tournament.

After lifting the Euros trophy two years earlier with Marcos Senna as the sole number 6, it then had Xabi Alonso lined up as his successor, but the rapid rise of Busquets disrupted plans, and manager Vicente del Bosque had to make room for the emerging Barcelona star in the team.

That meant playing Alonso and Busquets alongside each other in South Africa. The initial reaction to the idea was mixed.

"In Madrid, people were saying Alonso had to play instead of Busquets, and in Catalonia they were saying the opposite," recalled Del Bosque. "Even within the squad, some felt we should only play one of them. But we believed that our core was essential."

It worked out and now, 16 years later, Spain find themselves in a similar situation with Rodri and Zubimendi.

The outcome of the Premier League title race between Arsenal and City will certainly influence how this pans out in the end.