Aguero injury will open up chances for other players
PEP Guardiola says Sergio Aguero’s injury was not a result of the hasty re-start of the Premier League season.
And the City manager expressed his hope that even if the worst is realised, the blow will simply give someone else the chance to shine in the Champions League next month.
The 32-year-old striker has been ruled out of the rest of the domestic season after undergoing knee surgery on Wednesday, and City are awaiting the verdict on the length of his absence.
Guardiola suggested there was a chance he could return for the second leg against Real Madrid, on August 7 or 8, but that was an optimistic note, sounded before the surgeon pronounced his prognosis.
Aguero posted a picture on social media of himself recovering after the surgery, saying that all had gone well.
Guardiola and other managers had expressed their concern that a hectic domestic fixture schedule after a truncated period of preparation could lead to injury issues.
But the City boss did not believe Aguero’s meniscus problem fell into that category.
“Unlucky. We train and we try to protect players,” said Guardiola. “Sometimes you have muscular. Sometimes you have unlucky situations like (Benjamin) Mendy.
“It is so aggressive a game and sometimes it happens. Aguero had a problem and struggle in the last month and unfortunately against Burnley he broke a part of the knee.
“They are going to fix him and he is going to be back soon but in general we are quite well.”
It is undoubtedly a blow to lose their all-time top goalscorer at such a time, especially if he misses the rest of their European campaign as well, but Guardiola says a door closing on one player means a door opening for someone else.
“Of course the impact is big - to win the Champions League you have to arrive in the best moment in as good a condition as possible,” he said
“But at the same time the situation is what it is, and sometimes when this happens teams make a step forward with other players to solve these situations - so that is what we have to do.
“We have to wait and hopefully he can help us against Real Madrid - and if we’re good enough to go through, so maybe for the next rounds, if we are able to knock out Real Madrid.
“We will see. We have to move forward with the players that we have.”