Manchester City Need Sergio Aguero to Escape His Champions League Rut
Regardless of what Leicester City achieved this week, Sergio Aguero will always be synonymous with the most dramatic conclusion to a Premier League season.
With one swish of his right foot, the Argentinian changed the landscape of English football, clinching Manchester City’s first league title in 44 years and sparking sheer delirium in the stands of the Etihad Stadium in May 2012.
He is perhaps the most defining figure in City’s recent history. Outside the Etihad Stadium there used to stand a sculpture dubbed the "B of the Bang." Maybe one day they’ll resurrect it in dedication to Aguero and the goal that changed everything at the club—because his strike signified the firing of a starting pistol in City’s accelerated development.
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Aguero is all about those kind of moments, changing games as often as he changes his hairstyle. But most recently those moments have been fewer and farther between, particularly against Europe’s best in the UEFA Champions League. Considering where City’s focus now falls, that is a problem.
Following last week’s goalless draw against Real Madrid in the first leg of their semi-final clash, the 27-year-old has now gone four matches without so much as a shot on target.
Aguero scored in the round-of-16 clash with Dynamo Kiev, and he fared reasonably well in the group stage, but against Paris Saint-Germain in the quarter-finals and in the semi-final first leg last Tuesday he struggled.
Maybe it’s the injuries he has suffered over the past two seasons or so. Maybe it’s the system Manuel Pellegrini uses in Europe, but Aguero hasn’t quite been the same in the Champions League in 2016.
When his side have needed him most, they have had to look elsewhere. The Argentinian has been somewhat passive as City have made their greatest strides on the continent.
Progress has been made at the back in the previous two rounds, keeping clean sheets in back-to-back matches at the Etihad.
Even with Vincent Kompany missing, City have shown an uncharacteristic solidity in defence. That has been the difference for Pellegrini’s side in making it to the Champions League semi-finals for the first time.
Now it is their attackers who must find their groove. City have to score at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium if they are to make it to the final without a penalty shootout, and much of that onus will fall on Aguero.
Kevin De Bruyne will be a threat, as will David Silva and Jesus Navas, but it is the Argentinian who will head City’s goalscoring efforts in the Spanish capital.
That's why Aguero’s recent form in the Champions League is of such concern. Against Real Madrid he made scant impression, hounded out of the game by two central defenders charged with keeping the former Atletico Madrid forward quiet.
Aguero was afforded only 32 touches of the ball over the whole contest, making only 20 successful passes, according to Whoscored.com. Real Madrid recognised the significance of stopping the Argentinian and preventing him from playing a role.
It’s likely Aguero will be tasked with the same challenge on Wednesday evening, even if Real Madrid are intent on opening up the game a bit more at home.
He must find a way to create some space for himself, because if he can’t do that, City could find themselves smothered in the final third. They need a focal point from which to build. They need Aguero at his best, which he hasn’t been in recent rounds.
There can be little doubting Aguero’s quality and pedigree. While Riyad Mahrez, Harry Kane and Jamie Vardy might have been the frontrunners for this season’s individual awards, the Argentinian is still probably the best player English football can offer right now.
With the departures of Luis Suarez and Gareth Bale in recent years, Aguero is the Premier League’s poster boy.
"Sergio Aguero? I am sure he is the best striker in this league," Pellegrini said earlier in the season. “It’s strange that Aguero has never been the best player in the Premier League in all his years here. I think here in the Premier League that Kun is one of the best, if not the best.”
It says a lot about how highly Aguero is regarded that this season will be considered a below-par one for the striker, despite his record of 28 goals from 44 appearances. Of all those sitting on the sport’s tier below Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, the Argentinian is seen as one of the best of the rest.
But he must show so against Real Madrid on Wednesday evening. Aguero has long been linked with a switch to the Spanish capital—Spanish newspaper AS was among those to report on a potential deal (h/t Mirror's Matt Lewis)—and he could underline why he has been linked with such big moves at the home of the club most rumoured to be in his pursuit.
Whether he wants to catch the eye of Pep Guardiola ahead of next season or maybe a potential new club in Spain, Aguero certainly won’t be short of motivation.
Another factor in the relative decline in Aguero’s attacking productivity is the dip in Silva’s presence at City.
The Spaniard has an understanding like no other with the forward, and so with De Bruyne now taking on the mantle as City’s primary playmaking source this season, Aguero has consequently suffered.
De Bruyne has impressed, but the Belgian isn’t quite on the same wavelength with the Argentinian like Silva is.
Logic suggests he will surely find his form in the Champions League. He is too good to be held down for too long. He is too productive not to produce, even against the biggest and best teams.
But at this stage of the Champions League, big games are decided by big players, and City’s biggest player is Aguero. They need him to be in big-game form if Real Madrid are to be seen off.
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