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Barcelona vs Manchester City: Sergio Aguero the latest striker to fall foul of Pep Guardiola's demands

Aguero has been left on the bench for the last two Man City games

Jack Austin
Thursday 20 October 2016 12:21 BST
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Pep Guardiola received somewhat of a humbling on his return to the Nou Camp, as Barcelona punished Manchester City’s sloppy errors with a 4-0 win.

Lionel Messi scored a hat-trick and Claudio Bravo’s bizarre red card continued to leave a lot of head scratching over just why Joe Hart was allowed to leave, but one of the most notable incidents of the night happened as the teamsheets were handed in.

Sergio Aguero found his name located amongst the substitutes for the Group C clash, with Guardiola opting for a ‘false nine’ in the shape of Kevin De Bruyne, with Raheem Sterling, David Silva and Nolito in support.

And while the tactics were largely effective for the first 45 minutes, the Argentine only emerged from the dugout with 11 minutes remaining with City 3-0 down and the game already lost.

Aguero did not take part in City’s pre-match warm up but Guardiola revealed he was fit to start and the reason for his absence was the need for an extra midfielder.

“He didn’t warm up, but it was OK,” said the City manager. “I wanted one more midfield player in that position and that was the reason why (he didn’t play).

“I spoke with him and he was good. The decision was made this afternoon.”

Aguero was also left out of the line-up for Saturday’s draw with Everton, where he came on and missed a penalty, leaving question marks about Guardiola’s relationship with his star striker.

However, it is not the first time Guardiola has marginalised a big-name centre forward in order to accommodate his tactical plans.

The 45-year-old’s strange relationships with his centre-forwards has seen him relocate players from Thierry Henry to Samuel Eto’o and David Villa to Mario Mandzukic, all in favour of a more withdrawn striker.

Scroll through the gallery above to see all of the centre forwards marginalised by the Manchester City manager’s preferred tactical line-up.

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