Gündogan, the feeling of a City with everything in favor against ‘Gladbach’

German international Ilkay Gündogan is the man of the moment in an impressive Manchester City, in search of four titles, starting with the Champions League, in which on Tuesday he faces the second round with everything in favor against Mönchengladbach after winning 2-0 on the go.

“Obviously everything is possible, we have an incredible team, the best players in the world, why not?”, Declared the Ukrainian side Oleg Zinchenko this Monday at a press conference on the possibility of winning the four great titles (Champions-Premier-Cup -League Cup). Then his coach, Pep Guardiola, corrected him: «I am older than Zinchenko. I have more experience and I do not agree. The only thing he has to worry about is making a good game tomorrow and that we qualify.

Gündogan reaches 30 in his prime, as shown by the two player of the month awards, January and February, in the Premier League. «The midfielder is the first City footballer to win two awards. Someone told me one day that maybe I don’t shine, but that I allow others to do it, that’s how I see myself, “he said a few weeks ago on the club’s website.

That person was Mikel Arteta, Guardiola’s former assistant and currently in charge of Arsenal. “He is one of the most generous players I have had in my career and you can imagine to what extent I recognize him and I am happy for the importance he has for me,” Guardiola himself said in January. “He is so intelligent, clever, he understands the game wonderfully, he knows in each action what to do, always thinking what is best for the team,” added the Spanish coach.

Between January and February he made the injured Kevin de Bruyne forget, with a five-game championship streak in which he scored six goals and gave two assists, in a more offensive role than his usual one. In total he has 14 goals counting all competitions, in what is the most prolific season of his career. “Maybe with those figures people think that I am better now, but to be honest the figures have never counted much for me,” said the player.

Gündogan has picked up the witness of David Silva, a fundamental player for Guardiola, who left the club before this season after a decade as a ‘citizen’. He is the new master of ‘timing’, passes and ball movements around the area and will try to lead his team against a ‘Gladbach’ who needs to overcome two goals as a visitor in a duel that takes place in Budapest, due to the restrictions of travel through the pandemic.

“Obviously it is an important game for us, it is not a friendly, it is the Champions League, with an opportunity to access the next round, but against a world-class team. It is an incredibly difficult mission, even if we have a good day, a lot of things have to happen ”, admitted this Monday at a press conference the coach of the German team Marco Rose.

Mönchengladbach will collide with one of the continent’s greats immersed in a lousy six-game losing streak. “We do not play bad games, we lack a bit of luck at the moment, I am sure that we will rectify quickly,” said Swiss international central defender Nico Elvedi.

“Apart from our results, we have no major problems … We need to work on the details until the results come back,” added Rose, who will become Borussia Dortmund’s manager next year.