EPL

Aguero's 'something special' can lift City in Champions League final, says Guardiola

By Sports Desk May 23, 2021

Pep Guardiola believes Sergio Aguero is ready to help Manchester City in the Champions League final following his glorious Etihad Stadium farewell.

Aguero came off the bench on Sunday to score a brace as the Premier League champions thrashed Everton 5-0 – his final game in England's top flight before his City contract expires next month.

All attention now shifts to the showdown with Chelsea at Porto's Estadio do Dragao in six days' time and Guardiola felt Aguero's 183rd and 184th Premier League goals gave a timely demonstration of his enduring quality.

"Yeah, of course [he can play in the final]," he told a post-match news conference. "We have five substitutions. At the beginning, I don't know, I have to think about it.

"He has something special, Sergio. Of course he is ready to help us if we need him to win the Champions League."

Aguero improved his record as City's all-time leading scorer to 260, while he now has more for a single club than any other player in Premier League history, usurping Wayne Rooney's 183 for Manchester United.

Guardiola broke down in tears when discussing the five-time Premier League champion's legacy during a pitchside interview with Sky Sports.

Although the two have not always seemed like natural allies during Guardiola's five season in Manchester, he insists the Argentina striker has a place in his affections like few others.

"Some of them in Barcelona, it sometimes happens [you get emotional]," he said.

"Sergio has brought this club to the level we are now. He's a special person

"It was a perfect end, a fairy tale moment. We won the game, we had some good moments."

Guardiola revealed that Aguero, whose final campaign in Manchester has been dogged by injuries, asked to be deployed from the bench against Carlo Ancelotti's men.

"We spoke to Sergio yesterday, he had some little niggles and said, 'what do you want to do?'," he added.

"He said [he wanted to play] the last 30 minutes but he didn't tell me he needed just 30 minutes to score two goals. He did it again.

"It's perfect, it's so good for him."

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