Manchester City had a comfortable evening on Saturday, beating Burnley by a resounding score of 5-0, but one name was missing from the team sheet- Sergio Aguero. Speaking after the game, Pep Guardiola told the Daily Mail about the injury problems the striker has been facing.
Following on from their midweek Champions League win, City got another win under their belt. They got the victory thanks to a hat trick from Riyad Mahrez, supplemented by goals from Benjamin Mendy and Ferran Torres.
City would have liked to have had their Argentine forward return to the first team, but as you saw that didn’t happen. The manager told the Daily Mail that the forward woke up with some pain in his knee and it is this problem that has been kept him away from the first team for much of this season.
When asked about a potential return for the forward, Guardiola told the Daily Mail:
“Sergio depends how he wakes up. He makes good training sessions and then has some niggles.
“He woke up with a little problem in his knee. We know the injury he had is not easy for the recovery. We have to handle it as best as possible.”
It is a big blow for the Manchester side to not have their all time leading scorer available. This has naturally affected the number of goals they have been able to score this season. While City do have some talented attacking players, they are not on the same level as the man they affectionately call Kun.
With qualification to the next round of the Champions League secured, they can go into their next game with a relaxed frame of mind.
We will have to wait and see if the forward is fit in time for the Porto game on Tuesday.
Manchester City will certainly benefit from the presence of Aguero, but they must learn how to cope with his absence. Guardiola has to be happy with how some of the other players have responded to the challenge today.
The likes of Torres and Mahrez are shouldering the goal-scoring responsibility, along with Gabriel Jesus and Raheem Sterling. There is still a long way to go in the season and the Argentine may still have a say yet in how this season turns out.