BRENDAN Rodgers is highly unlikely to need any reminder of the threat Sergio Aguero will pose when Manchester City visit Celtic Park in the Champions League on Wednesday night, but the Argentine delivered one in any case.
The 28-year-old scored a double as Pep Guardiola’s side beat Swansea 3-1 in Wales to maintain their perfect record at the top of the Premier League after six games.
Rodgers was manager of a then newly promoted Swans in August 2011 when Aguero came off the bench on the hour mark on the opening day of the season to make his City debut.
The man who cost City a reported £38 million when he joined from Atletico Madrid was quick to make his presence felt, scoring twice and setting up another goal in the 4-0 win.
Celtic warmed up for Wednesday’s match with a 6-1 thrashing of Kilmarnock but manager Rodgers is well aware Aguero and his team-mates represent a much tougher challenge. “It is a difficult game, of course,” the Northern Irishman said. “I have come across Aguero many times. I know his qualities and know the level he is at.
“His first goals in English football were against my team at Swansea when he came on as substitute
– and he actually cost more than our stadium. He is a big talent, one of the leading strikers in the world, but as a team they are operating at a really high level. They are world-class players working really hard.”
Rodgers was understandably pleased with the way his side warmed up for their second
Group C match, although Celtic went a goal down in the 33rd minute to a remarkable long-range shot from the Ayrshire side’s Souleymane Coulibaly.
However, a double in three minutes from striker Moussa Dembele – taking his tally for the season to 10 – had the home side ahead at the break.
In a second-half rout, goals from James Forrest, substitute Leigh Griffiths, a Scott Sinclair penalty and a late Tom Rogic strike secured a commanding win.
Guardiola will set a new City record of 12 consecutive wins if his side beat Celtic on Wednesday and Spurs at White Hart Lane on Sunday, but insists he will not deviate from a “game by game” mentality.
He said: “I didn’t think about what might happen at the start of the season. We just focused on pre-season, and then we took a lot of confidence from our Champions League qualifying games, and then it’s been game by game.
“Now we are thinking of Celtic, and then it will be Tottenham and that’s how we’ll go forward. And at the end of the season, we will see how our levels were and whether we were better than our rivals or not.
“I honestly just think qualifying for [next season’s] Champions League will be very tough.
“Manchester United played really well against Leicester, Liverpool are especially playing very well, as are Tottenham and Arsenal. Everton may have lost on Saturday, but they are all so, so strong.”
Belgian midfielder Kevin de Bruyne went off nine minutes from time at the Liberty Stadium with what appeared to be a hamstring injury. He was due to be assessed further yesterday, but appears to be a major doubt to face Celtic.
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