Manchester City's struggles during Pep Guardiola's first
season in charge.
City were beaten 2-1 by Arsenal in Sunday's FA Cup
semi-final to end their last realistic chance of silverware
under Guardiola this term, having exited the Champions
League to Monaco in the last-16 stage and bowing out of
the EFL Cup to rivals Manchester United.
The Citizens face United in the Premier League at the
Etihad Stadium on Thursday in a match of huge
importance in the race to finish in the Premier League's
top four.
Argentina striker Aguero conceded it has been a tough
season and says City have been punished for their
mistakes.
"It has been quite a tough year," Aguero told Sky Sports.
"We made a very good start. Our form then dipped, but
we managed to recover and had a few good
performances followed by a few that weren't quite as
good. I don't know if it's been bad.
"We've always played the same way. I think what we've
been missing this year is a bit more luck. There have
been games that we were winning comfortably and a
mistake or lack of concentration cost us a goal.
"In the Champions League, we knew that Monaco would
be tough opponents. We produced a good performance at
home, but in the away leg I think we gave them the first
half.
"You pay dearly in the Champions League if you do that.
We reacted in the second half, but it was too late. It's
called the Champions League because you're up against
the best teams that can make it hard for you.
"We came close in the FA Cup which I think is another
example of a game where luck wasn't on our side. In the
second half I think both Yaya [Toure] and Fernandinho hit
the woodwork.
"If one of them had gone in, it would have been game
over. Then we had a goal disallowed when the ball
seemingly didn't go out. It's been a tough year, as is
always the case in England.
"I don't think luck has been on our side in many games."
Aguero heads into the derby in fine form, having hit 12
goals in his last 12 appearances for City, while he has
scored eight goals in 10 games against United, and the
Argentine believes Thursday's match at the Etihad is
pivotal.
"As a boy growing up in Argentina, derbies were always
incredibly important," Aguero added. "People over there
are crazy and as a fan of the club where I started out,
Independiente, I wanted us to win the Clasico so badly
when I was young.
"I didn't play, but I wanted to beat Racing so much. I was
at Independiente and Racing were our rivals. That was
my initial taste of derbies and I really wanted to win them,
no matter what.
"I was also thinking about something. People are happy
for such a long time when you win a derby. It affects the
whole city. People can calmly walk around the streets
saying, 'we beat you!'
"That's the first thing I thought about derbies. I then went
to Atletico Madrid and the derby was against Real
Madrid. It was tough. I drew two or three of them, but I
lost most. It was a similar story against United when I
arrived here.
"Luckily I've now won quite a lot more than I've lost. The
game is so important because we need to win to
strengthen our position and boost our chances of
qualifying for the Champions League."
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