Aguero reveals City pretended it wasn’t Barca

Sergio Aguero claims the key to Manchester City’s famous victory over Barcelona was pretending they were playing a different team.

City finally turned the tables on the Catalan giants after defeats in their five previous Champions League meetings with a memorable 3-1 win at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday.

This time City responded to Lionel Messi’s early goal with Ilkay Gundogan strikes either side of a brilliant Kevin De Bruyne free-kick to beat the five-times European champions.

Aguero said: “They’re a difficult team, obviously. If you give them time and the space to think, they will beat you.

“You always have to respect Barca and any team would respect that, but we had to pretend that it wasn’t Barca and try to play how we know, and win, which was the most important thing.”

City have faced a long and difficult journey to establish themselves among the elite but this win, perhaps more than last season’s run to the semi-finals, gave the impression they belonged there.

Aguero said: “I’ve experienced many different important nights, and this was another one that not only me but the whole team enjoyed. We also could feel the support from the fans and that was important for our confidence.”

The Argentinian was surprisingly left out of the starting line-up in the defeat in Barcelona two weeks ago but the striker denied he was angry.

The 28-year-old said: “I’m never angry. He said it was a tactical thing and I obviously respect that.

“When I went on the pitch I tried to give my best and then train hard to be ready for the next game. No one was in a bad mood.”

Sergio Aguero: insists he is never angry.