Rodri made a first start since his ACL surgery in September and managed 66 minutes, rather than the pre-match plan of 45 minutes.
“We had to make a step,” said Guardiola.
“Of course we were lucky a little bit that the sun was behind the clouds, it was hot and humid, but sooner or later he has to play.
“It was a process of 20 minutes, 25 minutes, 35. I said OK, the idea was to play 45 minutes, but at half-time he said no I want to play five or ten minutes more, the game was under control, we had a lot of the ball, he didn’t lose a lot of transitions, int he last two games we conceded a lot of transitions but it didn’t happen that time.
“Everyone knows how important he is, when the best player in the world isn’t there, it’s a miss. That’s clear.
“But I’m happy he did a good 60 minutes and hopefully he can again help us a lot like he always has since he arrived.”