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. 

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: …

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