Aguero in frame as Jesus is ruled out
(4-3-3) NEUER ALABA MARTINEZ HUMMELS LAHM VIDAL ALONSO THIAGO ROBBEN LEWANDOWSKI (4-2-3-1) OSPINA MONREAL KOSCIELNY MUSTAFI BELLERIN XHAKA COQUELIN SANCHEZ OZIL WALCOTT MULLER GIROUD REF: M Mazic (Serbia). TV: BT Sport 2. KICK-OFF: 7.45pm. won the Champions League playing beautiful football. That is the recent Barcelona side and Real Madrid in the Sixties. Nobody else. Somebody has to realise that ‘beautiful football’ is not working but unfortunately it will not happen under this manager. People are just running out of excuses but the games against Everton and Manchester City were all I needed to see. They lost two games in four days when they had taken the lead. You go back in history and AC Milan never did that; Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich.
Sometimes you have to have the resilience just to grind things out. Arsenal simply cannot do that.
And the irony is that it is a different Bayern Munich they will face this evening. Ancelotti has a different approach and if you have somebody as powerful as Pep Guardiola who leaves, maybe you get a taste of what it was like when Sir Alex Ferguson left Manchester United.
The usual response from the players is to take a breather. Maybe they are taking one step less in training. The team are ageing and some of the key players are the wrong side of 30 and time is catching up with them.
However, Arsenal have had so many misses that it becomes a psychological problem. They won their group this time but, as soon as Bayern Munich came out of the draw, it was, ‘Here we go again’.
The top teams find a way of winning games, not excuses for losing them. That has been the difference between Bayern Munich and Arsenal in the past 10 years.
Interview by Dunn. Matthew well have ended his season. Jesus could have simply undergone physio treatment and rest and, potentially, been playing within a month but would have run the risk of suffering a recurrence of the problem.
The Brazilian international – signed for £27million from Palmeiras last summer – has made a huge impact since making his debut at the end of last month.
That, in turn, had led to doubts over Aguero’s long-term future at the Etihad, with widespread speculation that the Argentina international would seek a move this summer.
Since the teenager’s elevation to the starting line-up, Aguero has been relegated to the bench for the past three league games – a clear sign that he had been demoted to a role as the youngster’s deputy.
But Aguero will now take on vital importance in Guardiola’s thoughts, especially as City have named their Champions League squad for the knockout stages with Jesus in it and now unable to play.
City midfielder Yaya Toure said: “It was brilliant to see Sergio come on. That is why the top teams have to keep their best players.”
Toure, meanwhile, has reminded his City team-mates that the last two occasions they won the Premier League, they had to come from behind.
City moved up to second in the table and eight points behind Chelsea after the win at Bournemouth.
Toure said: “We are a bit far away from Chelsea at the moment, and the way they are playing, they won’t let those points go. But we have to remember 2012 and 2014 when we came from behind to win the trophy.
“We are back in second place now – we are starting to get to what the manager wants.”
Former City manager Manuel Pellegrini believes his successor will now have a good appreciation of his achievements at the club.
Pellegrini, who won the title and two League Cups at the Etihad, said: “I think Guardiola values my work a little more in those three years. It is not easy to win the Premier League.
“Perhaps many thought that with the arrival of Pep, they would win the Premier League with 15 points difference. But no, in England, this is not the case.”