The big news: Guardiola sees Aguero as back-up

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola admitted that Sergio Agüero could leave the club in the summer, according to The Guardian. Guardiola said that he does not want the striker to depart but it is clear Agüero may get a chance to leave if he wants to. Guardiola has dropped him for City’s past two games – wins over West Ham United and Swansea City – and the striker may not feature in Monday’s clash against Bournemouth.

Guardiola said, “At the end of the season I don’t know. I know how difficult it is to find top goalscorers. I would like him to stay but I don’t know what is going to happen. Even in my career I didn’t know what would happen at the end of the season. I was clear every time we spoke with Sergio from the beginning. I know his strengths. Sergio knows the intention of his manager and the club. I don’t want to sell him. I want him to stay here for a long time until he decides.” With the likes of Raheem Sterling, Gabriel Jesus and Leroy Sané emerging as potent strikers, Agüero has not started since the draw against Tottenham three weeks ago.

Football:

  • Former Chelsea striker Fernando Torres scored one of the goals of the season in Atletico Madrid’s 3-2 win against Celta Vigo. However, Torres also missed a penalty as they moved to the fourth spot in the table. 
  • Manchester United striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic says he is still unsure about his future at the club but insists he has fulfilled requirements needed to extend his contract. Zlatan joined Jose Mourinho’s side last summer on a one-year deal and has scored 20 goals this season.        
  • Real Madrid striker Gareth Bale returned to training with Real Madrid after injury. Boss Zinedine Zidane said he expects Bale to return on the pitch within a month. Bale should be fit for Wales’ World Cup qualifier with the Republic of Ireland on 24 March.
  • Premier League defending champions Leicester City were beaten 2-0 by Swansea City and are now only a point above the relegation zone. Manager Claudio Ranieri admitted he may have been too loyal to his Leicester players and will ring in changes.
  • Gonzalo Higuain scored a brace as Juventus marked boss Max Allegri’s 100th Serie A match in charge with a win. They are also seven points clear at the top of the table with Roma second.  
  • Roma beat Crotone 2-0 as Edin Dzeko missed a penalty but scored a goal later to power his team to second spot in the table. Dzeko said he will stop taking penalties after missing his second in five Serie A matches for Roma.
  • Chelsea were held to a 1-1 draw by Burnley as the Blues stretched their lead to 10 points. Pedro scored the opener for Chelsea, before a spectacular free-kick by Robbie Brady saw Burnley equalise 1-1.
  • East Bengal and Mohun Bagan played out a goalless draw at the Kanchenjunga stadium at Siliguri on Sunday. East Bengal remained at the top of the table.

Cricket:

  • India are seven wickets away from beating Bangladesh in the one-off Test match in Hyderabad. Bangladesh need 356 runs more to win the match.
  • Shikhar Dhawan and Gautam Gambhir powered North Zone to an eight-wicket victory over South Zone in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Twenty20 trophy. Chasing a target of 174, Dhawan scored 50 and Gambhir 81 as North Zone reached home with eight balls to spare.         
  • Luke Ronchi and Martin Guptill returned to New Zealand’s T20 and one-day squad for the upcoming series against South Africa. Ish Sodi also retained his spot in the one-day squad, with Colin Munro being dropped.
  • Yusuf Pathan became the first Indian male cricketer to sign a deal with an overseas franchise-based T20 league. On Saturday, he was unveiled by Kowloon Cantons for the second edition of the Hong Kong Twenty20 League, which starts from March 8 to 12.
  • India beat arch-rivals Pakistan by nine wickets to win the T20 World Cup for the Blind in Bengaluru on Sunday. With the win, India bagged the trophy for the second straight time. 

Tennis:

  • Umpire Arnaud Gabas, who was struck by the ball in anger by Canada’s Denis Shapovalov, has had surgery to repair a fractured eye socket. He was hit with a ball during Britain’s Davis Cup win over Canada last week.
  • Alexander Zverev beat two-time defending champion Richard Gasquet 7-6 (4), 6-3 to win the Open Sud de France on Sunday and clinch his second career title.