Pep Guardiola already has achieved plenty during his short time at City – seven wins from his first seven games in charge is evidence of that – but there’s a sizeable task that still needs fixing: Getting the club’s fans to embrace the Champions League.
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Gladbach struggled to deal with City hitman Aguero and Gundogan was full of praise for his Argentinian team-mate. He played well but we can not forget that he comes from a long-term injury.
A generous whirlwind two or three hours before start on Tuesday had obliged the essential diversion to be scratched off and about fragment of Monchengladbach’s fan flew home before Wednesday’s changed match.
With his former club Barcelona, as well as Celtic, lying in wait in Group C, Guardiola had warned his players that a strong start in the competition was imperative.
‘We had for the weather one more day regeneration, now we have one less but it is what it is.
The Spaniard said: “I was not here for what happened but they must forget what happened in the past”.
“It’s our job, we are here, but to play without our fans, there is no reason why we are here”.
And he admits he faces tough competition to get into the starting lineup with so many talented players starting the season in fine form. Aguero completed his hat-trick following a fine through-ball from Sterling and Kelechi Iheanacho rifled in a fourth after good work by fellow substitute Leroy Sane in injury time. We didn’t stop the build-up of the opponent and in one-on ones and in defence we didn’t show the quality we have shown in previous campaigns.
“I am lucky with our medical staff here – they are very impressive”. Nico Otamendi played a lot of football over the last month, including in the global break, and it might be a good idea to rest the Argentine center-back on Saturday. “It’s not a big problem but it happened two days ago”. “We will see tomorrow, today we are going to see the doctor and we will decide”. Vincent Kompany is close to full fitness but is unlikely to feature anytime soon for the Blues.
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For manager Pep Guardiola, however, Aguero’s role is about much more than scoring goals. “I am used to being injured and five months was nothing for me – with my back I was injured for more than a year”, Gundogan said. They played really, really well against West Ham and against Manchester United – they were in the game right until Juan Mata scored.
