Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero has been ruled out of the club’s big massive Champions League first leg match versus Liverpool.
Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero injured
The striker is suffering from a knee injury and will take no part in the first leg affair. Aguero has been out of action for the last five matches for both Manchester City and Argentina.
“Sergio is much better but doctors spoke to him today and he said he still has a little bit of a problem and isn’t comfortable,” Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said.
Despite Aguero being ruled out, Guardiola has stated he will not change Manchester City’s approach to the fixture.
“If I said we are going to do it differently to how we have done, my players would look at me and say: ‘The guy is scared – the manager doesn’t trust us.’ That would be a big mistake,” Guardiola stated.
“We accept we are favourites but to do something in this competition you have to feel you are favourites.
“We come here to play football. Hopefully everybody – our fans and Liverpool fans – can be correct and polite. It is a game, a sport. We cannot forget that, as good as the rivalry is.”
While Aguero will miss the Champions League match, he could feature for Manchester City in the weekend’s derby against Manchester United.
Guardiola has talked about his excitement for the club’s attacking players that will feature on Wednesday night instead of Aguero.
“We are so happy with all [our young players] especially those three guys,” Guardiola said. “You have to live these kinds of situations to be better.
“They are young — Gabriel never played the quarterfinals of the Champions League in their lives and the first time will be here — but why should I doubt them when we did it at many stages this season quite well? If it doesn’t go well, it will be a good lesson for the future.
“I have no worries, not at all. I saw players who are 32 more scared than those guys. It depends on the mentality of them and they are so good.”
Guadiola also spoke about Liverpool, who beat the Spanish coaches team in their previous meeting, 4-3.
“In the quarterfinals, it is a mountain and it depends whether you are able to cope with that situation or not,” he said. “The opponent, of course, is one of the toughest in the world.
“We cannot forget that it’s not just one game, it’s 180 minutes. What I admire most for the important teams — because last season we were not able to do it — in the knockout games they stay calm.
“You see Real Madrid, Barcelona and when the other team attacks it looks like they are taking a cup of coffee because they know their chance will come and when that chance comes, they are not going to miss it. That is the big difference.”
While Manchester City will be without Aguero, Liverpool have a number of injuries. Joel Matip was ruled out for the rest of the season on Tuesday, while Adam Lallana is back on the injury list with a hamstring injury. Joe Gomez and Ragnar Klavan are also injured.
