Journalist Charles Watts has slammed Rodri after he lunged in to make a poor challenge on Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard during the current international break.

What happened between Martin Odegaard and Rodri?

Both Spain and Norway met this weekend in a qualifier for Euro 2024 which saw two of the top talents in the Premier League meet as they represented their countries.

Indeed, alongside Mikel Arteta and co, Odegaard sits top of the division table with the Gunners while Rodri’s Manchester City lead the chasing pack, eight points behind their rivals.

In the end, this game was won by Spain 3-0 with an opener from Dani Olmo and a brace from Joselu being enough to decide the qualifying match.

However, when the score was still 0-0, Rodri flew into a tackle and failed to win the ball. Instead, he clattered into Odegaard in what should have been a penalty and possibly even a red card.

Speaking about the incident on his YouTube channel, Watts could hardly believe what he had seen as he slammed the challenge, calling it “such a bad tackle”.

He said (0:43): “That tackle by Rodri on Martin Odegaard. Oh my god how bad was that? Fortunately, Martin Odegaard is fine, or seems to be fine he played the full 90 minutes.

“This happened at 0-0 in the first half and he went on to play the full 90 minutes. Spain won 3-0 in the end. And he finished game, he spoke about it afterwards and seems fine, which is a good thing.

“My god that was such a bad tackle. Honestly I have no idea how that cannot be a penalty or a red card to be honest because when you look at replays, absolutely he is endangering the opponent.

“There is no control whatsoever in that incident. You know he has gone sliding in, yes to block a shot, but he’s gone sliding in, studs up, ankle height and cleanly taken out the player.

“How Martin Odegaard has avoided any sort of injury there, again is just beyond me. It was such a bad tackle. Odegaard clearly fuming about it.”

What did Odegaard say after the Rodri tackle?

It’s certainly true that the captain couldn’t hide his anger after the game and he really had to temper his reaction or else risk getting himself into trouble.

Indeed, he told the Norwegian press (via TalkSport): “I’m pretty sure I should have had a penalty. He’s coming with his studs right on my ankle.

“But I’m sure I’ll get punished [if I say anymore]. I don’t bother saying anything else about the referee. It’s better not to say anything.”

No doubt such a poor tackle would have left Arsenal fans hiding behind their hands, desperately hoping the midfielder was okay to play on. Fortunately, by the sounds of it, Odegaard – who reportedly makes

£115,000 a week – is fine and so managed to avoid any injury here despite the reckless challenge made by Rodri.