Eurozone: Aguero cameo comes too late for Atletico

(AP)

In simpler times, whether a player was fit or injured, a manager would never consider saving his best XI for another day, so Sergio Kun Aguero would have been on the pitch from the first kick of Saturday's helter-skelter Madrid derby.

IN simpler times, whether a player was fit or injured, a manager would never consider saving his best XI for another day so Sergio Kun Aguero would have been on the pitch from the first kick of Saturday's helter-skelter Madrid derby.

As it was, Atletico coach Quique Sanchez Flores left his talisman on the bench for the first 45 minutes – enough time for Real Madrid to take a two-goal lead – sending him on to save the match in the second period when it was too late, but only just.

It is no wonder that Chelsea's need for a marauding second striker to fizz around Didier Drogba has taken them to the door of the dynamic Argentine. He ran Real Madrid ragged, just as he had Chelsea in the Champions League last week.

Sergio Ramos was sent off for bringing Aguero down on the edge of the box on 65 minutes and after Diego Forlan had taken the score to 3-1 it was Aguero who muscled his way past Real centre-back Pepe to make it 3-2 and leave Atletico fans believing in the most unlikely of comebacks. He could have completed the resurrection but the brilliant Iker Casillas blocked his shot in a last gasp one-on-one, leaving the home supporters wondering what might have been if their number 10 had been unleashed on the visitors from the off.

"He played 45 minutes and it really took it out of him," said Flores afterwards: "We knew we had a bullet on the bench but that we had to be careful how we used it. It is a shame that he was not in better shape. He took a risk by playing because he could have broken down again but he reactivated the team."

They needed reactivating and went into the game not having won at home to their big-city rivals in 10 years. But they were behind on four minutes after Kaka picked up a loose ball on the edge of the area and shot past Sergio Asenjo. Twenty minutes later Marcelo ran on to a pass from Karim Benzema and from the byline blasted into the roof of the net.

On the hour Gonzalo Higuain dispossesed Perea in the area and fired past Asenjo to make it three. But then Aguero forced Ramos's red card tackle, Forlan converted Tomas Ujfalusi's pass and Aguero's demolition of Pepe and a shot past Casillas made for a nervous finish.

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