Champions League
Gündogan after beating Bayern: Don’t think about the final
Step on the brakes on euphoria: ManCity captain Ilkay Gündogan. photo
© Tom Weller/dpa
3-0 against Bayern: The semi-finals of the Champions League seem to be just a matter of form. But city star Ilkay Gündogan warns with a view to the second leg: the knockout duel is not over yet.
After the clear victory against FC Bayern, city star Ilkay Gündogan warned against feeling too safe.
“That’s exactly the mistake we mustn’t make now: thinking about the final in Istanbul after the 3-0 win. So the knockout duel is definitely not over yet,” said the English football captain -Champions Manchester City in an interview with “Kicker”.
The Cityzens go into the second leg of the quarter-finals of the Champions League next Wednesday (9:00 p.m.) in Munich with a clear lead, so that some are already dreaming of a treble. “It’s mid-April now and we can still win the three most important titles of the season, but also be left with nothing in a few weeks,” warned the German international.
“Lots of crazy things” happened
“A lot of crazy things” have happened in the Champions League in recent years in particular. “There were a number of comebacks that absolutely nobody expected. Bayern has the quality in the team, especially at home, to score several goals against every opponent,” said Gündogan: Decrease compared to Tuesday.” He is positive that “we feel that our performance is at the peak of the season”.
The key to the clear home win against Munich on Tuesday evening was the “absolute world class” defense. “Bayern really don’t have a bad offensive, but our boys were always snappy, threw themselves into every ball and basically made almost no mistakes. They made this victory possible for us. And then we have enough quality on the offensive anyway and also experience to get on our goals,” said the 32-year-old midfielder.
Gündogan attested the German record champions a “very strong performance over long stretches”: “It’s very rare for someone in our Etihad to have so much possession of the ball. But it was a lot of fun. Nine out of ten opponents usually only play on counterattack against us and wall themselves in on the defensive”.