If I think about the Paris final I get very angry. I’m not going to watch it
Ilkay Gundogan on the fight for the title, Champions League heartache and City’s ‘non-violent’ rivalry with Liverpool
YET another taxing week lies in store and Ilkay Gundogan is introspective about it all. Manchester City are aiming to secure a fourth Premier League title in five years — collecting silverware is becoming the norm.
‘Look, even we lose sight of that. Even myself sometimes, I lose sight of it,’ Gundogan tells Sportsmail at the City training ground. ‘Especially after (being knocked out of the Champions League) last Wednesday. But it would be an outstanding achievement, dominating for those years would be incredible. If we lose a game, we are in trouble.’
Seven points from three games will make sure City pip perennial rivals Liverpool to the title. That can start at Wolves tonight and there is a similar feverish anticipation for this runin as in 2019, when City clinched the league by a single point.
That year, Gundogan stuck the Istanbul derby on his TV. City had beaten Crystal Palace in an early Sunday game and the temptation would have been to watch Liverpool’s response during the trip back from the capital. A Galatasaray supporter growing up, Gundogan tuned in for their 1-1 draw at Fenerbahce instead. Liverpool beat Chelsea anyway, as expected.
‘It was a more important game!’ Gundogan smiles. ‘If there’s a more exciting game for me, I’m watching that. The last game against Spurs (on Saturday) for example I watched, because I was home and I thought it was going to be a good game. Which it was! Now, with having it in our own hands, I don’t feel it’s a necessity.’
The 31-year-old, who became obsessed with the computer game Football Manager during lockdown, has had to alter his habits at home since fiancee Sara Arfaoui moved into his city-centre apartment, next door to Pep Guardiola. Gundogan laughs that his football intake is a bone of contention; he is learning to turn the TV off occasionally.
Roberto Martinez once installed two televisions in his living room with an L-shaped sofa, so he could study games with headphones on while his wife Beth watched other programmes and the pair could still be together. ‘My fiancee would kill me if I asked for that,’ Gundogan says. ‘That wouldn’t leave me in a good position!’
City are in a good position now though, after an emphatic response to last week’s scarcely believable European exit at Real Madrid and
Liverpool’s draw with Tottenham. The rivalry is relatively peaceful between the players. It is not ArsenalManchester United of the early Noughties.
‘Those kind of rivalries don’t really exist any more in modern football,’ Gundogan says. ‘For some people who are more old-school, that might be bad. The game is not like 20 to 30 years ago, with people on the pitch intentionally trying to injure. That’s not how we want the game to be. I want fairness, respect. Just because there’s a rivalry we don’t need to kill each other on or off the pitch.’
GUNDOGAN wanted the Bernabeu to swallow him whole last week. The wounds have not healed, they remain raw. The dressing room fell quiet, some players wept when coming to terms with those nonsensical two minutes in stoppage time which thwarted hopes of a Liverpool-City final in Paris later this month.
‘If I think about the final in Paris, I get very angry,’ Gundogan admits. ‘Frustrated, disappointed. I’m definitely not going to watch it. I will try to do something else that day. Nothing is going to really help, the only thing that will is time. It’s becoming a little easier, even though you know — yet again — you’ve missed a big chance to lift a trophy.’ That yet again was said with real emphasis. ‘Maybe there’s not much we can tell ourselves that we did wrong but at the end of the day, we conceded two goals in two minutes. We were not there when it was necessary and we were not focused enough. That is the blame we give ourselves.’ Gundogan seems exceptionally hard on himself, discussing his limitations as a footballer and as a man. ‘It takes a lot to make me furious. But when I get angry then I explode. I keep it inside myself as long as possible but then that’s also not the best way of dealing with stuff. ‘I overthink every possible scenario. I feel like the more options you have in life, the more you start to think. A lot of people can understand what it is related to — maybe sometimes to have a lot of choice is not the best. Maybe that’s why a lot of people struggle with relationships.’ Gundogan is fascinating when dissecting himself, almost as if he was born in the wrong era. He talks about how his parents met and immediately wed, how the world, and football, rewards the superficial. ‘Society has gone in the wrong direction a bit,’ he says. ‘People don’t value if you are a good human being. Social media is a big part of it. It’s
more important how many likes you get, or who comments under your photo, than the guy next to you giving you an honest opinion. I always think, don’t make yourself too important. Be down to earth, humble — even though sometimes it feels like it’s not always the best thing to do in this business nowadays.’
THE Germany international, born in Gelsenkirchen to Turkish parents, has taken Manchester to his heart over six years. Noticing Gundogan enjoy a coffee in the Northern Quarter has become something of a tourist attraction, but his lasting legacy here will be community work. Whether it is sending meals to foodbanks, visiting the elderly or raising funds for stricken cafes struggling through Covid, he loves doing his bit. More globally, he supports the UN Refugee Agency.
‘I feel a responsibility that I live a privileged life,’ he says. ‘Life can be very difficult and cruel. I come from a similar area in Germany, very industrial. They are working cities where for some, the level of earnings are limited. Where I’m from, football is so important for society. That’s also why I could identify easily with Manchester. I feel at home here.
‘Maybe with my game there is a connection to the work that I’m doing off the pitch, if that makes sense? I think it describes me a little bit, how I am as a football player. I never really considered myself the main man, the guy who always wants the attention. I fit in the role of making my team-mates better, even though maybe I don’t shine myself so much. I’m very realistic about what I know about myself, what I can achieve and what I am not able to do.’
Gundogan is one of Guardiola’s five captains. He enjoys his manager’s company, with the pair spending some time together away from the training ground. Gundogan discusses the intuition required to play for this team in much the same way as Guardiola does and the midfielder’s ability to slow play down is often vital.
With one year remaining on his contract, it will be interesting to see his movements from here.
Gundogan was Guardiola’s first signing and he says the six seasons have given him real fulfilment — even allowing for two long-term knee injuries. ‘The club has taken real care of me, coming from a foreign country,’ he adds. ‘I had a lot of hopes and dreams and have nearly achieved all of them.’ Gundogan laughs a little nervously. This one wouldn’t be all that bad, even with
‘just’ the league title.