Sergio Aguero seems to have turned into a peacemaker as he played down the severity of an apparent altercation between Lionel Messi and an unnamed Manchester City player. Barcelona was defeated 3-1 by Manchester City in their Champions League return fixture at The Etihad where Messi was involved in a quarrel on the way back to the dressing room. He apparently shouted, "stupid, come here and show your face, don't hide," to the unnamed City player who returned to his dressing room.
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In a post-match conference, Sergio Aguero was asked if he had a word with his compatriot after the match and he revealed that Messi wasn’t in any mood to talk. He appeared to respond with his answers diplomatically.
"No, we haven't talked. Whenever you lose you're not very happy," he told reporters.
"I saw him there, he was feeling bad. I know him well enough to know when he's bad, when he's good. But when you lose, nobody's good."
According to Spanish radio station Cadena Cope, Lionel Messi was embroiled in a spat as he confronted City players in the tunnel. However, Manchester City has dismissed the report as completely untrue. When Aguero was pressed with questions on the incident, he claimed to not know what happened. Furthermore, he continued in his monotonous tone objecting that nothing serious had happened on account of what he later heard.
I don’t know what happened, says Aguero
Aguero continued, "[I saw] nothing. I thought Messi said something to me but he didn't, and then we [the other players] talked about other stuff. [It was] nothing serious. I heard something but I don't know what happened. When someone loses you have to respect them. Leo wasn't in the mood to talk and I respect that."
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It had surfaced that Aguero was upset with manager Pep Guardiola after being left out of the playing XI in the first leg of the group tie at Camp Nou a fortnight ago. However, the forward who was recently praised by the manager for hitting form denied being angry and called it a football drill that he understands as a tactic. According to Aguero, what seemed to be more important is that the team enjoyed themselves and won three points.
"I'm never angry. I respect every manager's decision," Aguero said. "[Guardiola] 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. But no one was in a bad mood. I've experienced many different important nights, and today 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. It was a nice game for the memories."
After four matches, Manchester City trail group C leaders Barcelona by two points.
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