Saturday 9 September 2017 11:21, UK
Pep Guardiola insists he is trying to be "fair" in his treatment of Sergio Aguero and says he does not doubt the striker's quality.
The Argentina international was a substitute in Manchester City's last Premier League game against Bournemouth and did not kick a ball for his country in their two World Cup qualifying draws against Uruguay and Venezuela last week.
And in an exclusive interview with Sky Sports, Manchester City boss Guardiola joked that only a "stupid manager" would leave Aguero out of his side, before explaining the difficulty of balancing his attacking options.
"He [Aguero] is OK. It is because he has two stupid managers that he hasn't been on the field! That is the only reason," Guardiola said.
"There are no doubts about the quality of Sergio, but we have to handle a squad of 20 or 21 players. We have to be honest and treat each one the same.
"It's not that when Sergio plays I am happy with him and when he doesn't play I am not happy with him.
"I'm not a child any more. I am a father with three kids. I just try to be fair with what I believe and what I think.
"Everybody has reasons and arguments to say 'I deserve to play' - and that's true, but the other ones do too.
"It is what it is."
Aguero has scored in his last five home games against Liverpool, who travel to the Etihad Stadium live on Sky Sports on Saturday lunchtime, but Guardiola did not confirm whether or not the forward would start the game.
"I have learned here how much this country loves statistics," he said. "They are always on Sky and here and there.
"I don't care. I don't count too much on statistics to make my decisions - but maybe for that decision I will make an exception and he will play."
The last time Liverpool visited City in March, the two sides played out a thrilling 1-1 draw as Aguero cancelled out a James Milner penalty.
And Guardiola, who has won the Champions League twice as a manager with Barcelona, explained why that match was one of the highlights of his career.
"Even Jurgen laughed when I said it was one of the most fantastic games I've lived in my life," he said.
"It was three days after we lost in Monaco for our qualification to the quarter-finals of the Champions League and when this happened the mood was going down. It was a low, low position.
"Mentally after three days - when they had one week to prepare - we played a game at home to Liverpool and we were losing 1-0 and how we recovered and how we finished that game, it was so exciting for me to see my players.
"Football is not: 'You win and you're happy, you lose and you're not happy'. Sometimes you lose and you are so proud, more than some of games you won."
And Guardiola praised Klopp's "spectacular" style of football - and says it often leads to exciting games when they meet.
He said: "He was born in Germany. He was a little boy in Germany and started to play football in Germany. I was a little boy in Catalonia and I was born into a different mentality and way of playing. That's why it's nice football.
"English managers play that way, German managers play that way and the Spanish managers play in that way, like the Italian managers. We grew up with something cultural and that is what we believe.
"He plays that way and he is better if he wins and I am better if we win. It's simple like that for the media or the people.
"They play in an attractive way. It is spectacular when it works because everything is quick and they make transitions like in Germany and in three or four seconds they are on the attack."
