Real Madrid's UCL Dream Threatened by Sergio Aguero, the Man Who's Eluded Them

Time after time he's visited, time after time they've seen him up close and time after time they've thought he'd soon be theirs. For so long, he's been just there, within touching distance, his course always seemingly on track for theirs. 

And yet, here we are, another visit and another sighting looming, and still he's not one of them.

On Wednesday, Sergio Aguero will return to the Santiago Bernabeu with Manchester City to face Real Madrid for the crunch second leg of their UEFA Champions League semi-final tie. Again, in the theatre that's long waited for him, Aguero will be ever so close but in a sense so far away: Now, not only is he not one of them, he's also the man who could yet hurt them. 

Really hurt them. 

When Wednesday arrives, 1,324 days will have passed since Aguero last visited the Bernabeu in September 2012, when a European duel between Madrid and City exploded into life in a frenetic final half-hour that saw the visitors twice take the lead but somehow lose, 3-2. 

That night, Aguero had been recovering from injury and didn't feature, but that didn't stop him from being the post-match focus anyway due to a comment that will have clanged for his then-new employers.

"If Real Madrid had been interested, I'd be there," the Argentinian told reporters at the Bernabeu that night. "I'm at City because Madrid showed no real interest in me."

No interest? Not quite. 

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The previous year, Aguero had confirmed his intention to depart Atletico Madrid. For five seasons he'd been at the Vicente Calderon, and for four of them he'd been the star, but that was the pre-Diego Simeone incarnation of Atletico, and there was an overriding feeling he'd outgrown them. 

"If I said I saw myself at Atletico," the striker said in the summer of 2011, "I'd be lying."

The Premier League's giants were circling, but so too was the colossal club up the hill. For years, reports had suggested Real Madrid had wanted their city rivals' main attraction, and now, there he was, just there: across town, affordable, wanting to leave, oozing goals. 

He had "Real Madrid" written all over him. But just there was as close as he got.  

For Atletico, losing a star is one thing, but losing him to Real Madrid is another entirely. Theirs is an inner-city rivalry of loathing on one side and derision on the other. It's fierce, political and representative of a social divide. 

Thus, Atletico drew a line; they knew Aguero was going, but they'd fight like hell to make sure it wasn't up the road. Club president Enrique Cerezo told reporters a bid from Real would be "an act of aggression," the language striking like that of warfare.  

A week later, Atletico CEO Miguel Angel Gil Marin declared to the media, "Aguero is not going to go to Real Madrid. I called [Real Madrid president] Florentino [Perez] to ask him if we could maintain this commitment to not being hostile and he agreed. Either a club—that is not Real Madrid—comes in and puts £40 million on the table or he stays at Atletico Madrid."

Agreed? "Reluctantly," said the well-informed Sid Lowe of the Guardian. 

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If reluctantly is the word, it's not hard to understand why. 

Even though questions of his tactical fit and what he'd theoretically force Madrid to do—sell Karim Benzema, for instance—have been worth considering, the idea of Aguero at the Bernabeu has always been alluring. Indeed, in many ways the Argentinian embodies the archetypal Real Madrid quality: the mesmeric act from nowhere.

The hammer blow.

The punch.

It's what Aguero did at Atletico for four seasons and what he's now done at City for five. So efficient, so lethal, the 27-year-old has become (statistically) the deadliest striker in Premier League history.

Of course, the physical qualities—the touch, the low centre of gravity, the finishing, the exquisite runs—grab the eyes, but there's something else more compelling to Aguero: the natural comfort in the spotlight. The ease on the biggest stages. The poise in the biggest moments. 

"Kun [Aguero] has to play for Real Madrid," said Diego Maradona on Argentinian radio in 2012. A year later, Maradona told reporters a union between Aguero and Madrid "would be spectacular."

Maradona is the striker's former father-in-law, and he's not the only one who's envisaged "Kun" in Chamartin. Almost every summer the reports of interest from Madrid, Perez and Co. have persisted, with AS indicating that last summer was no different. 

And yet, here we are ahead of Wednesday, Aguero possibly set to play villain rather than hero for the club he's always eluded.

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Though it's Madrid who undoubtedly hold the advantage ahead of Wednesday's second leg—after a 0-0 draw at the Etihad Stadium last Tuesday, Zinedine Zidane's men simply need to do what they've done all season: win at home—the threat of Aguero remains immense. 

Based on the first leg, this could be another cagey affair, each team very aware both of its own flaws in defence and its opponent's strength up front. 

It's in such a dynamic where City's talisman thrives. Like Cristiano Ronaldo up the other end, Aguero doesn't need regular touches of the ball or a handful of sighters; in fact, he barely needs anything. 

One half-chance can be enough.

Two or three is plenty.  

In a game in which the potential damage of the away goal is very real, that threat is extremely significant. A single strike might be enough. You feel two probably would be. And if it were to happen, what a blow it would be. 

Time after time he's visited, time after time they've seen him up close and time after time they've thought he'd soon be theirs. But still he's not, and now he's the man with the potential to end Madrid's European dream.