Manchester City manager Josep Guardiola has said he is prepared to let Rodri rest after the player said he needed rest.
Rodri, 27, has appeared in 41 games this season and after Tuesday's Champions League draw with Real Madrid, City hinted that: I'm going to let him rest.
Guardiola's side will face third-place Luton in the Premier League at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.
“If a player doesn't want to play, it's simple not to play,” the Manchester City manager said.
Tuesday's 3-3 draw against Real The Champions League quarter-final first leg marked 429 days and 66 matches since Rodri played for City in any competition and lost a match.
Across Europe's top five leagues, only three players have made more starts for Spain this season: Arsenal defender William Saliba (42 starts) and two goalkeepers.
He has missed four domestic games this season due to suspension, and City have lost all four.
“If you look at our games, you can see that he is very important for his quality,” added Guardiola, whose side head into the Premier League weekend in third place with seven games remaining.
“I feel like in the games where he was tired, like against Crystal Palace and Madrid, he was better in the second half. He ran better and was more accurate in the second half than in the first half.”
“It's more about expending mental energy than physically. He's playing every third day, every third day. Of course he's tired and he's playing a lot of minutes.”
“We are past the tipping point.”
Guardiola said an increasingly busy calendar was putting strain on players and leading to an increase in injuries.
City, who still have three competitions to play, have played three games in April, with a further five scheduled, and the possibility of a further six in May, with a further on on June 1. There is also a possibility that the Champions League final will be played.
“The situation is getting worse and worse,” Guardiola said.
“It's a special season for us because we have suffered a lot,” said Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino, who will be without 11 players for Monday's game against Everton.
“It's very difficult when there's no fit in the team.”
Ben Dinary, a data analyst and founder of Premier Injuries, said there will be a 15% increase in injuries that keep players out of games this season, and a 30% increase in days missed due to injury.
Alexander Bielefeld, head of policy at global players' association FIFPRO, told the BBC's Football News program that “patience is running out” between players and associations.
“We're cannibalizing the calendar,” he said. “We've passed the tipping point. We've changed the size of our team, we've made changes to our substitutions, but frankly, all of this is not over the top.”
Football physio Chris Hattersley said the demands placed on players were “basically too high for what their bodies can tolerate”.
Hattersley added: “Unless they address the fixture schedule, things will probably continue to get worse.
“A lot of times the schedule is set from Saturday to Tuesday, but when you look at the physiological recovery from a game, it actually takes three to four days. So the players aren't fully recovered by that Tuesday. The risk of injury increases when you go through a period of intense periods.”