TalkSPORT pundit Gabby Agbonlahor has urged Pep Guardiola to start Riyad Mahrez in Manchester City’s upcoming Champions League semi-final second-leg clash against Real Madrid.
The first leg saw the Citizens pick up a 1-1 draw at the Santiago Bernabeu with a second-half strike from Kevin De Bruyne cancelling out Vinicius Junior’s opener.
With the Etihad Stadium set to host the crucial second-leg fixture on Wednesday, one pundit has claimed that Guardiola should look to make one particular change to the starting XI he chose in Madrid.
Speaking on talkSPORT, Agbonlahor had this to say on the matter when asked how City should approach the match.
He said: “I would play Mahrez. Bernardo Silva is an outstanding player but at the Bernabeu, if Mahrez was playing, they would have caused more damage.
“Last season, when Mahrez played in that game [against Real at the Bernabeu], he scored, he was outstanding and I think he could be the difference.” As well as not featuring in the match on Tuesday in Madrid, Mahrez also didn’t make an appearance in either of City’s quarter-leg games against Bayern Munich. However, with eight Champions League appearances to his name this season, the winger has chipped in with three goals, which backs up why Agbonlahor sees him as a goal threat.
In fact, only Erling Haaland (9.1) has a higher rate of expected goals in this Champions League campaign than Mahrez (3.5) in the City squad.
In our view, if Guardiola wants to take a more attacking approach in the second leg, we feel he should put the Algerian in the starting XI and hope he can be the difference for the team in front of goal.
