Soccer is undoubtedly a team sport and success comes from the collective working together.

But even the strongest team needs superlative players to put it over the top. In some cases, teams have multiple world class players. Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich, for example. Oftentimes, it is one player that pushes the team to the top. Borussia Dortmund is exhibit B.

Manchester City is undoubtedly a top club and, despite having a number of terrific players, there is no doubt that one stands above the rest. His name is Sergio Aguero and the Argentine star is injured for over a month.

How important is Aguero to the Citizens?

The team has scored 32 goals in the Premier League. He has scored 14 of them (43.75 percent). He has also assisted on another three, meaning that he has contributed in one way or another to over 50 percent of the team's goals this season.

He has scored two game-winning goals for City in its 10 victories and has scored the first goal of the match for his team on six different occasions in the club's first 15 matches. And when he has scored a goal, the team has a record of eight wins and one draw.

In the Champions League, he has scored five goals and one assist. How many has Manchester City produced overall? Nine. He also scored a hat trick against Bayern Munich to bail out his team from certain elimination.

He leads the team in shots per game and it isn't even close. He leads the team in dribbles per game. And it isn't even close.

So How Do You Replace a Player Like That?

Manchester City has to face their demons in the Champions League on Wednesday without Aguero in a game that will determine whether the Citizens move on to the group phase. In the Premier League, the team is in a two-horse race with Chelsea for the crown and City trailing by six points.

An immediate look at the roster does not yield many possible solutions and Chelsea in 2013-14 is a textbook example of how badly a team can struggle to win the league without consistent offensive output. To put this in perspective, the second leading goal-scorer on Manchester City is not even a forward. It is Yaya Toure and he has four goals.

The other option that will not only get brought up, but will likely play is Stevan Jovetic.

Early on, everyone talked about Jovetic being the main man over Aguero. He started the season in good form, but has a total of four goals (albeit in over half the minutes of Aguero). He might need be called on to lead the way, but can he stay healthy? Last season he was hurt for most of the year and never made his mark.

The year before, Jovetic was terrific for Fiorentina with 13 goals in 31 games. But the Italian league is nothing like the Premier League with its punishing physicality. Can the forward hold up for a few weeks under that pressure?

After that, the team actually has no natural strikers and may have to rely on a false nine system with a player like David Silva as the false striker. The Spaniard had his best offensive season in 2013-14 with even goals and nine assists. But he was playing in his natural position then and it is unlikely he has the same dominant form out of position.

The other possibilities is what transpired against Roma on Wednesday -- a collective effort with goals flowing from all around. This is great in theory, but has yet to work out effectively all season long.

It will be an interesting story to keep an eye on. Can Manchester City stay afloat without its MVP for a month or more? Or will this ship sink quickly due to a lack of offensive production?