Sergio Aguero has questioned Pep Guardiola’s decision not to put Julian Alvarez on against Real Madrid last night.
City played out a 1-1 draw at the Bernabeu and are in a good position ahead of the second leg of the Champions League semi-final.
City enjoyed a really good first half-hour or so and knocked the ball around with confidence.
But Vinicius Jr broke the deadlock, when Real broke the press in their own half and Eduardo Camavinga strode forwards.
He found the Brazilian inside, and he rifled his effort past Ederson.
City didn’t panic though and stuck to their principles.
And midway through the second-half, Kevin De Bruyne popped up on the edge of the box to score with a thunderbolt.
It was a sensational strike from the Belgian to level the scores.
From that point on it was mainly City knocking on the door for another. But Real defended quite well in the end, with the two centre-backs David Alaba and Antonio Rudiger particularly good.
Interestingly, Pep Guardiola didn’t make a single substitution in the game. That was despite it also being very hot on the night.
City legend Aguero was watching the game, and questioned why the manager didn’t put his fellow Argentine Alvarez on.
He said (via All About Argentina): “What I don’t understand is why he didn’t put Julián [Alvarez on]… I wonder, but well it’s Pep. He doesn’t marry anyone. If it was up to me, I’d play Julián in almost every game – we need him to be active and have a spark.”
Sergio Aguero has a point, Pep Guardiola’s decision to overlook Julian Alvarez was a bit strange
It was very interesting to see Guardiola not make a single chance last night.
Especially considering how how it was and there were some players that looked tired.
£14 million star Alvarez might have been a really good change to make.
But you can also understand Guardiola being a bit reluctant to change things up. City were actually playing well and were good on the ball.
When this is happening and City are not winning a game Guardiola can be known to keep the faith with those that are out there, rather than disrupting things.
Aguero is right about Alvarez in general. He has shown he is a quality player who makes things happen, and he should be playing more at this point.
