Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola: 'When Sergio Aguero decides to leave it will be his decision'

Football Soccer - FC Barcelona v Manchester City - UEFA Champions League Group Stage - Group C - The Nou Camp, Barcelona, Spain - 19/10/16 Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola with Barcelona coach Luis Enrique after the game Reuters / Albert Gea Livepic EDITORIAL USE ONLY.

Pep Guardiola said Sergio Aguero will only leave Manchester City if the striker wants to go of his own accord.

Guardiola left Aguero out of City's starting line-up for their 4-0 humbling by Barcelona at the Nou Camp on Wednesday.

There have been reports of tensions between Guardiola and Aguero, with the City boss moving to defuse the situation by claiming he still has faith in the striker.

Manchester City's Argentinian forward Sergio Aguero warms up before the UEFA Champions League football match FC Barcelona vs Manchester City at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona on October 19, 2016. / AFP PHOTO / JOSEP LAGO

Guardiola also claimed City skipper Vincent Kompany did not make the bench against Barca because the defender had declared himself not fit enough.

Responding to the uncertainty surrounding Aguero and Kompany, Guardiola said: "Out of my plans?

"I think I took a decision about my plans, and my plans are that Sergio and Vincent are part of the future of Manchester City.

"When Sergio decides to leave City, it will be his decision. Kompany was not fit.

"Aguero was a tactical decision, we wanted more in the middle.

"I try to keep the ball in Camp Nou, because I believe when you have the ball, [Lionel] Messi, [Luis] Suarez and Neymar don't have it and they are still dangerous, but less dangerous.

"I spoke to Sergio about that, he was so understanding. He helped us a lot in the last minutes. That was the reason why.

"I never been with Vincent in the past. What I saw when he is fit, guys he's a real central defender. I like him.

"But we tried to take care of him. He went to the doctors in Barcelona and said 'I'm not able to play'."

Guardiola admitted he was to blame for the sizeable defeat to Barca, but claimed he could not be expected to work miracles after just three months in charge at City.

"My decision was to leave Aguero on the bench," said Guardiola. "If we lose, I'm guilty, if we win, I'm a genius.

"I said we were not ready to win the Premier League when we won the first 10 games.

"We won 6-0 in Bucharest, but the result was [really] 10-0. We created chances and missed two penalties.

"We have to improve but that is normal. Three months together, you cannot imagine how difficult it is to build something.

"Barcelona have been playing together for 15 years, they play in a natural way. We are improving, some of the things we did [against Barca] we did really well."

Aguero, who has scored 11 times in 10 appearances this season, was dropped off at the Etihad Campus on Friday by his pop star girlfriend Karina Tejeda and appeared to cut a solemn figure.

Elsewhere, Pablo Zabaleta is not fit, nor is Guardiola's other right-back Bacary Sagna, which means Guardiola is likely to play a back-three against Southampton on Sunday.