A surprised Ilkay Gundogan has confessed that he had anticipated a more intense reaction from his Barcelona teammates following their 2-1 home loss to arch-rivals Real Madrid in El Clasico.
Gundogan, aged 33, scored an early goal, just six minutes into the match, giving Barcelona an initial lead in his first Clasico appearance since joining the Blaugrana from Manchester City during the summer.
However, in a dramatic turn of events, English superstar Jude Bellingham netted two second-half goals, including a dramatic 92nd-minute winner, to secure all three points for the visiting team and leave Gundogan feeling deeply frustrated.
The German midfielder had hoped for a more passionate response from his teammates upon returning to the locker room. However, he was taken aback by the subdued reactions he witnessed. Gundogan shared his sentiments with La Liga TV after the match, saying, “But I was (just) in the dressing room, and of course, people are disappointed, but especially after such a big game and such a result, I wish (for) more frustration, more anger and more disappointment.”
“This is a little bit of the problem. I don’t know, there has to be more emotion, especially when you lose and you know you can perform better in certain situations, and you just don’t react and it transfers to the pitch.”
The 33-year-old, who spent seven seasons with Manchester City and secured five Premier League titles, urged his team to display more “resistance.”
As of now, Barcelona finds themselves trailing leaders Real Madrid by four points and are in the second position, behind surprise package Girona, after just 11 games. Gundogan stated, “We need to make a huge step otherwise Real Madrid or even Girona is going to run away,” Gundogan affirmed.
“I didn’t come here to lose this type of game and let the gap create. There’s also a responsibility from myself, a more experienced player, to not allow the squad to just let things happen. No, we need resistance.”
Meanwhile, Barcelona manager Xavi believed that his team deserved to win the match, expressing, “We dominated for 60 minutes, but this is football. We need five or six chances to score and they, with two or three, score two goals. It’s the difference.”
“We lacked effectiveness. What we proposed went well, we were calm, and patient… Maybe I’m exaggerating, but the feeling I have from the bench is that we deserved to win.”
Ilkay Gündogan
İlkay Gündoğan
This season he played in total 11 times for 911 minutes for La Liga.
Ilkay Gündogan scored 1 goal for FC Barcelona. He procured twice assists. He received 1 yellow card and no red cards.
His team is currently 3rd in La Liga. In the last match FC Barcelona lost 2-1 against Real Madrid.
FC Barcelona performance and stats
FC Barcelona is currently 3rd in the La Liga with 24 points.
In the last 11 games, it has won 7 times, drawn 3 times, and lost once. In its last match, FC Barcelona lost 1-2 against Real Madrid.
It has a positive goal difference after scoring 23 goals and conceding 12.