Manchester: In-form striker Sergio Aguero will miss Manchester City’s pivotal Champions League clash at Roma on Wednesday after damaging knee ligaments against Everton on Saturday, manager Manuel Pellegrini revealed.
Aguero, City’s top scorer with 19 goals, left the field in tears after hurting his left knee in a challenge with Muhamed Besic in the early stages of his side’s 1-0 Premier League win at the Etihad Stadium.
He will now miss his team’s final Group E game against Roma, who are level on points with both City and CSKA Moscow, and could face an extended period on the sidelines.
“Sergio has a problem with his knee ligament,” Pellegrini told Sky Sports. “We’ll see tomorrow (Sunday) how serious it is, but it’s not good news. I don’t think that he will be able to play next week.
“We must wait for the doctor, but the important thing is he will not be playing against Roma and it’s a very important game for us. But we have other players and we will rearrange if he does not play.”
Edin Dzeko made his return from a calf injury as a second-half replacement for 18-year-old Jose Pozo, who came on for Aguero, but Pellegrini suggested the Bosnian was not fit enough to start in Rome.
“Edin was not able to play 70 or 80 minutes. He could play a maximum of 35 minutes,” the City manager said.
Adding to Pellegrini’s woes is the fact that City’s only other senior striker, Stevan Jovetic, missed the Everton game after sustaining a hamstring injury.
Injuries restricted Aguero to only 23 league appearances last season, but the 26-year-old had been injury-free and in scintillating form in the early months of the current campaign.
The Argentina striker had scored 16 goals in his 14 previous City appearances, including a hat-trick against Bayern Munich in the Champions League and all four goals in a 4-1 league win over Tottenham Hotspur.
