Bauza confirms Argentina's starting lineup in Bolivia; Aguero out

The era of Edgardo Bauza is proving to be unconvincing. So, perhaps it should come as no surprise that El Paton is shaking things up.

On Monday, Bauza leaked Argentina's starting lineup for its 2018 World Cup qualifier away to Bolivia. Of the 11 players who started for La Albiceleste in its 1-0 victory over Chile on Thursday, only four will do so this time around, and Sergio Aguero was nowhere to be found.

Javier Mascherano, Gonzalo Higuain, Nicolas Otamendi, and Lucas Biglia are suspended for Argentina's visit to Bolivia due to yellow-card accumulation, but Aguero is not. Taking El Kun's place in La Albiceleste's starting lineup is Lucas Pratto, whose inclusion in the national team's squad came as a surprise, given that Bauza overlooked Mauro Icardi.

Aguero was invisible in Argentina's far-from-impressive win against Chile and was replaced by Ever Banega in the 57th minute. The game served as another example of how La Albiceleste is unable to get the most out of Lionel Messi.

"We are going to make an effort so that Messi is comfortable and so that the players get the ball to him where he can do damage," Bauza said, according to ESPN FC. "We want to win in La Paz but we all know that is not easy. The altitude makes for tough conditions. We have to be smart and consider the game plan and not sticking to it would be foolish.

"Bolivia have good players and will attack with many people. The problem of altitude comes in the last 20 minutes. We will see how we come through the game physically. When we get to the altitude, we give paracetamol to players to avoid headaches."

Argentina and Bolivia will take the pitch at the dreaded Hernando Siles, which lies approximately 3,600 metres above sea level. It was the scene of El Verde's 6-1 victory over La Albiceleste in 2010 World Cup qualifying, a massacre that Aguero watched from the bench.