Sergio Aguero injury blow as Man City face Roma

Sergio Aguero leaves the field injured during the game agaist Everton last weekend. Picture: Getty

The City manager then insisted his job was not on the line as he looked ahead to the fixture that will determine his side’s immediate European fate without his star striker.

Aguero, who has scored 19 goals this season and struck a dramatic hat-trick to keep City alive in Europe against Bayern Munich a fortnight ago, damaged knee ligaments in Saturday’s win over Everton.

His absence will be keenly felt but Pellegrini was keen to take the focus away from the 26-year-old ahead of the decisive Group E contest at the Stadio Olimpico.

Pellegrini, speaking at his pre-match press conference, said: “Well, Sergio – we know he is injured. He cannot play tomorrow [Wednesday].

“He will see how long he will be out but I think it is more important for us to think about the players we have available for an important game against Roma.”

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When pressed on how long Aguero could be absent after he was assessed over the weekend, the Chilean said: “We know but it is difficult to know exactly how long he will be injured.

“It could maybe be four, five or six weeks. It depends a lot on the way he recovers.” That would certainly rule him out of remaining games this month against Leicester, Crystal Palace, West Brom and Burnley, the New Year’s Day clash with Sunderland and an FA Cup third-round tie against Sheffield Wednesday.

Should he be ruled out for six weeks, Aguero would also miss tough games against Everton and Arsenal but he could be back to face title rivals Chelsea on 31 January.

Aguero’s performances have been the key factor in City’s recent return to form with successive wins heading into the Roma clash. But Pellegrini must now try to engineer a positive result without him. His side are level on five points with Roma and CSKA Moscow in a tight battle for the second last-16 qualification spot behind Bayern Munich.

To go through City need to win and hope CSKA do not beat Bayern, or get a score draw and hope CSKA lose. A defeat would eliminate them from Europe altogether.

A third exit at the group stage of the Champions League in four seasons for City could raise questions about Pellegrini’s future but the 61-year-old does not feel his job is under threat.

He said: “I don’t think so. It’s a very important game and all of us want to qualify but I don’t think that what happens will have some link about the future in my club. I have never received any kind of pressure from the club. I hope we are going to qualify but I have nothing to be [concerned] about my future here.”

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