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Manchester City Need Sergio Aguero to Escape His Champions League Rut
- Updated: May 4, 2016
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.
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 …
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