Manuel Pellegrini has confirmed that Sergio Aguero will play no part in the first leg of Manchester City’s Champions League last-16 tie against Barcelona.
The
Argentina international’s season has been interrupted by a series of
niggling injuries, the most recent of which came during his side’s 5-1
hammering of Tottenham last month when he tweaked his hamstring shortly
after opening the scoring.
Pellegrini had been hopeful that the
former Atletico Madrid star would be fit enough to make the substitutes’
bench for the visit of Tata Martino’s side, having stepped up his
rehabilitation with a return to first-team training last week.
However,
the Chilean confirmed on Monday: "Aguero is not on the squad list.
We'll see if he can be fit for Saturday [against Stoke], but maybe it's
difficult."
Aguero has scored 26 goals in 25 appearances this
season, including six in the Champions League, and his head-to-head
clash with international team-mate Lionel Messi was due to be one of the
most intriguing aspects of the heavyweight clash.
Pellegrini, however, was hopeful that midfield enforcer Fernandinho could be ready to make a return from injury after missing the last three games with a muscle strain.
“[Fernandinho] has a chance, he’s in the squad list for Tuesday, we’ll see tomorrow - he worked without any problem,” he added.
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