Nicolás Otamendi believes Sergio Agüero’s late winner against Borussia Mönchengladbach could ignite his Manchester City team-mate’s season.
Before the 90th-minute spot-kick, Agüero had missed chances he would normally be expected to finish during the Champions League match in Germany on Wednesday. However, after winning the penalty, the Argentinian displayed character by scoring the decisive goal in a 2-1 victory.
The strike was Agüero’s third this term, and Otamendi believes it could be the springboard for last season’s Premier League golden boot winner to return to his best.
“Strikers need to score goals,” the defender said. “The more goals they score, the more confident they feel. But it’s not only him – we must not forget the rest of the attacking players and we need them all at a top level.
“We must remember that Sergio has a lot of experience of playing in Europe. A top player like him, they always focus on themselves and forget about any mistakes. He showed a lot of confidence, taking the penalty, and for us he is a key player. That’s what we expect of him.”
City’s victory means they have three points after losing their opening group match to Juventus. Manchester United also won their Champions League game on Wednesday, defeating Wolfsburg.
Otamendi, who arrived from Valencia in the summer, does not believe the Premier League is inferior to the other continental leagues despite Arsenal and Chelsea losing in the competition on Tuesday.
“I will only speak only about Manchester City but the Premier League is a really tough competition,” he said. “You have to focus in every single game. I don’t think the Premier League is going down a level. You have all the best players in this competition. I’ve played in La Liga and I can say the Premier League is really tough.
“I don’t want to comment on other teams, I just want to talk about Manchester City. But, yes, I think it was a question of bad luck. It was pure coincidence that the English teams got bad results.
“Regarding Manchester City, we know we need to improve. We know that this competition, like the Premier League, is always really tough. We need to improve in certain aspects. But the most important thing is that we got the three points and now we have to focus on the next game.”
City play Sevilla home and away next in Group D. Otamendi knows the Spanish side’s quality from his time at Valencia. “They are a team with a lot of experience in Europe,” he said. “We have to remember they won the last two Europa Leagues. We have to show a lot of respect to this club. We need to focus on ourselves to prepare really well for these two games. If we win them, our chances of going through to the next round will be really high.”
The central defender is settling in well following his £32m transfer.
“It’s going really well,” he said. “I arrived when the league had already started. When you arrive a bit late, you need time to get used to the new league, your new team-mates, the new style of football. Everyone at the club has made everything really easy for me. Not only for me but the whole family. This gives me the confidence to focus on my football. The family is settling in very well and we are happy.”
Otamendi was involved in City’s equaliser in Germany, which was originally credited as an own goal but was on Thursday awarded to Martín Demichelis after Uefa listened back to the conversation between match officials at the time the ball crossed the line.
As City appealed for a goal after Demichelis’s effort was hooked out, Otamendi struck the rebound and his shot was deflected in off Andreas Christensen. Uefa said the audio recordings established that the one of the additional assistant referees had clearly indicated that Demichelis scored.
