Pep Guardiola insists Sergio Agüero and Vincent Kompany remain in his plans with Manchester City’s manager stating the striker understood being dropped for Barcelona while Kompany informed the doctor he was unfit for the Champions League group game.
City lost 4-0 at Barça on Wednesday night, Guardiola having preferred Kevin De Bruyne to Agüero up front. Kompany was not included in the 18-man squad.
That led to scrutiny of the players’ futures. Yet Guardiola said: “Out of my plans? I think I took a decision about my plans, and my plans are that Sergio and Vincent Kompany are part of the future of Manchester City,” he said. “Kompany was not fit. Agüero was a tactical decision, we wanted more in the middle. I try to keep the ball in Camp Nou because I believe when you have the ball, [Lionel] Messi, [Luis] Suárez and Neymar don’t have it and they are still dangerous, but less dangerous.
“I spoke to Sergio about that, he was so understanding. He helped us a lot in the last minutes. That was the reason why.”
Of Agüero’s future, Guardiola said: “When Sergio decides to leave City it will be his decision. Next time you write this, that he is not in my plans, you can call me or Simon [Heggie, City press officer] – you may not have my number but you can call Simon – and we can explain what is the truth.”
Kompany also remains a key player but Guardiola is clear the captain has to regain full fitness. “I never been with Vincent in the past,” the Catalan said. “What I saw when he is fit – he’s a real central defender. I like him. But we tried to take care of him. He went to the doctors in Barcelona and say I’m not able to play.
“The people say: ‘No [it’s not good] because of Pep, Vincent and Sergio.’
“But you can use the press conference to ask me the truth. My decision was to leave Agüero on the bench. If we lose I’m guilty, if we win I’m a genius. I said we were not ready to win the Premier League when we won the first 10 games. We won 6-0 in Bucharest, but the result was 10-0. We created chances and missed penalties.
“We have to improve but that is normal. Three months together, you cannot imagine how difficult it is to build something. Barcelona have been playing together for 15 years, they play in a natural way. We are improving, some of the things we did [against Barça] we did really well.”
Claudio Bravo was sent off for handling the ball outside the area after giving away possession to Suárez.
Guardiola said: “I know from the beginning when Claudio is going to make a mistake, he will be on the front page. Every defender midfielder, striker missing penalty makes mistakes but Claudio has to fight against that.
“Sometimes you have to put a long ball. I don’t know if this time you have to put a long ball.
“The decision was not wrong in that moment but the action – he did not pass good and that can happen. It is a pity because in that moment the game was open. It is a good lesson for us.
“The last three or four times Manchester City play against Barcelona, mostly with 10 men. With 10 you cannot imagine how difficult it is. I saw many good things. John Stones, Raheem Sterling, Ilkay Gundogan, Kevin De Bruyne … it is the first time they go to the Camp Nou for these kind of games.”
