Aguero eager to avoid Guardiola, Bayern and familiar foes Barcelona

Sergio Aguero will get to know “great coach” Pep Guardiola next season but the Manchester City striker is keen to avoid an earlier encounter with the Bayern Munich boss in the Champions League.

Aguero helped City into the quarter-finals of Europe’s premier club tournament for the first time on Tuesday, with a drab 0-0 draw against Dynamo Kiev enough to secure their passage after a 3-1 win in the first leg.

City were eliminated by holders Barcelona at the first knockout stage in each of the past two seasons and Aguero knows avoiding the Catalan giants or Bayern in Friday’s draw for the last eight would enhance their chances of going deeper in the competition.

“You always want to go far, and to do that you have to face the best,” he said. 

“Obviously Barca and Bayern are there, who are the two best by form and if we can avoid them all the better. But at some point we will have to face them.”

Aguero is close friends with Barcelona talisman Lionel Messi, who flourished into one of football’s all-time greats under Guardiola’s tutelage at Camp Nou.

City confirmed last month that Guardiola would replace Manuel Pellegrini as manager but Aguero insists he has not been pestering Messi for inside information.

“I don’t know [Guardiola], but let’s finish the season in the best possible way,” he said.

“We [Aguero and Messi] only chatted beforehand, before it was announced. Obviously for Leo he was a great coach, he won a lot of trophies and we hope he does well here.”

Recent speculation suggested Aguero would leave City at the end of his current contract in 2019, or perhaps even earlier following the 2018 World Cup, to return to boyhood club Independiente in Argentina.

The 27-year-old did not confirm the date he has in mind but maintained the desire to complete his career in his homeland was common among South American players.

“You are born in one club as a kid and you always want to return to where you started,” he explained.

“I have always said it, I will go back, and I think the Argentine and Brazilian players share that feeling of wanting to return.”