Aguero ruled out of City's game against Juve

LONDON (Reuters) - Sergio Aguero will miss Manchester City's opening Champions League game against Juventus on Tuesday because of a knee injury but David Silva and Raheem Sterling are fit to take part.

Aguero ruled out of City's game against Juve

(Reuters)





Argentina striker Aguero limped off in the first half of the 1-0 Premier League win over Crystal Palace on Saturday as City maintained their unbeaten start to the season.

Silva, who has recovered from an ankle problem, and Sterling, who had a hamstring complaint, are available after missing out against Palace while Samir Nasri and Fernandinho could also feature.

"Sergio is not fit for tomorrow but David Silva and Raheem Sterling are fit for the squad," manager Manuel Pellegrini told a news conference on Monday.

Aguero suffered knee ligament damage in December that sidelined him for seven matches. He came back strongly with a flurry of goals towards the end of the season to finish the top scorer in the Premier League with 26 goals.

He has only scored once this season though, in the 3-0 win over Chelsea a month ago.

City will also be without Fabian Delph (hamstring), Pablo Zabaleta (knee) and Gael Clichy (ankle).

"When you choose your squad for the season it is important to have two players in each position," said Pellegrini. "All clubs get a lot of injuries throughout the year because of the amount of games and the intensity of the Premier League.

"In this case we have a lot of problems but I have 100 percent trust in the squad we have chosen."

Pellegrini could start with Wilfried Bony because he is his only available striker. Kelechi Iheanacho, the 18-year-old Nigerian who scored the winner at Palace, has not been included in City's Champions League squad.

Bony, who would be making his first appearance in the Champions League, has not scored this season and has only found the net twice since his 28 million pounds ($43.09 million) move from Swansea City in January.

Juventus have made a poor start to their domestic season but Pellegrini said: "We are not thinking where we are going to get to in this year's Champions League, we are just thinking about tomorrow.

"We play against a very strong squad, that’s why they won the title four years in a row and made the final of the Champions League. Maybe they haven't started that well but they continue to have very good players."

($1 = 0.6497 pounds)





(Reporting by Simon Jennings in Bengaluru, editing by Mike Collett)


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