The manager of Manchester City, Pep Guardiola has insisted that he would only make decisions that would help his team to beat Chelsea in the UEFA Champions League final on May 29, 2021.
The German tactician who will lead Manchester City to their first Champions League final in the club’s history on May 29 noted that he would not select the players that would play in the final out of sentiment.
Pep Guardiola said this when he was reacting to the possibility of featuring Manchester City’s outgoing striker, Sergio Aguero, in the final of the UEFA Champions League final. The Spanish tactician revealed that he could have played the Argentine striker if he was fit enough ahead of the final.
According to the Spanish tactician, Sergio Aguero is currently injured which means that his chances of playing in his first Champions League final are very slim.
Aguero who joined Manchester City from Atlético Madrid in July 2011 for a transfer fee worth €40 million has agreed to leave the club at the end of this season. The UEFA Champions League final could be the last game he might have the opportunity to play for City.
The Argentine striker played for Manchester City against Chelsea in the league on May 8 and lost a penalty in the 2-1 defeat which didn’t change much as the club was confirmed as Premier League champions a few days later.
On May 14, when Manchester City faced Newcastle United in the Premier League, Sergio Aguero was not named in the squad that struggled to beat Newcastle 3-4. Guardiola blamed Aguero’s absence in the squad on fitness issues.
Despite being the club’s all-time highest goalscorer who is bowing out of the club this summer, Pep Guardiola stressed that no player would be given an automatic slot in the squad that will face Chelsea in the Champions League final on May 29.
“Right now (Sergio Aguero) is injured. If he was fit I would say I will be cold,” he said.
“I have to take the decision which is the best to win the game. If Sergio is fit and I believe he can help us, he will play.
“If he can help us to score, he will play but it is the final of the Champions League, I have to make the decision that wins the game.”
On how his players used to behave before he makes the selection for big games, Guardiola who started his professional coaching career at Barcelona said: “They listen a little bit more. Seriously, they are not stupid. They want to play so they will be so nice to me.
“Once I make the selection they will be who they are, grumpy and upset with me like normal…
“It has always been difficult. But previously I remember the starting eleven at Barcelona was so clear I would say.
“Here I rotate a lot and everyone can play. Still, right now I am not clear about the way we are going to play and who we are going to play. I have to take a look in the next 10 days and after I will make a decision.
“That’s why the relationship between the players and the manager has to be distant. You cannot be close because you make decisions which (can impact) careers and sometimes I have to be unfair to them.
“They are lucky that they have a manager who rotates a lot, in the last few months I have changed every game six or seven players. In this situation, I would say I have been generous with them.
“They want to play every game especially the most important ones. It’s tough but it is what it is.”
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