Top Gun warning
ILKAY: BENZEMA IS THE BEST STRIKER IN THE WORLD AND MODRIC IS A MAGICIAN
Man City v
Champions League semi-final, 1st leg, Tues, 8pm
BY
ILKAY GUNDOGAN has warned Manchester City to beware of Real Madrid’s golden oldies.
Gundogan has hailed Karim Benzema, 34, as the “best striker in the world” after seeing the Frenchman step out of Cristiano Ronaldo’s shadow.
And the German midfielder reckons Luka Modric, 36, is reproducing his Ballon d’Or form again.
Both players were sensational as Real beat Chelsea to book a Champions League semifinal date with City when they appeared to be on the brink of going out.
“Benzema is absolutely fantastic,” said Gundogan.
“In my opinion, people have underestimated him too much in recent years and now he’s proving them wrong. He was also decisive before but overshadowed then by Cristiano Ronaldo, especially in the media.
“It’s impressive how he keeps performing at this level for so long.
“For me, he’s currently the best striker in the world – together with Robert Lewandowski.
“It’s not only him. Luka Modric, Vinicius Junior, Toni Kroos, David Alaba – we are aware of them all.”
Benzema has scored 41 goals this season, including Champions League hattricks against
Paris SaintGermain and
Chelsea.
But it was Modric’s sensational pass to set up a goal for Rodrygo when it seemed the defending
European champions would be going through that turned the tie.
Gundogan (below) said: “Modric is a magician! His assist for Rodrygo against Chelsea left me speechless.
“The way he plays always seems smooth and calm.
“When he won the Ballon d’Or back in 2018, I was so happy for him because it was finally a player in my position.
“Modric and Toni Kroos do a great job. They have been important to Real for so many years now, under different coaches.
“That shows the quality and importance of such players – they’re expected to help decide games.”
Gundogan has lost two Champions League finals.
Nine years ago, he scored from the penalty spot for Jurgen Klopp’s Borussia
Dortmund in a 2-1 defeat at Wembley by Bayern Munich. Last season, Pep Guardiola’s City underperformed and lost 1-0 in Porto to Chelsea.
Gundogan said: “It’s definitely a big goal for me personally – but also for us as a team.
“After losing the final last year, we’ve grown and improved. Facing Real is definitely a tough one – but it’s the semi-finals, so every opponent would have been tough.
“Real knocked out PSG, they knocked out Chelsea – that already shows how strong they are this season.
“It is always important to start with a win, but even more when the second leg is played in the Bernabeu.
“We know what power the stadium can unleash.
“You could see that in the game against Chelsea.
“It can turn a game upside down from one moment to the next.”