FC Bayern trembles, Gündogan hopes – “The Champions League is our dream”

Before the second leg at FC Bayern, ManCity captain Ilkay Gündogan talks to t-online about the club’s big dream – and the privilege of playing the home EM.

Julian Buhl reports from Bayern Munich

Ilkay Gündogan was one of the most conspicuous players on the pitch in Manchester City’s 3-0 first-leg win over FC Bayern. In midfield he fought gripping duels with Joshua Kimmich in particular and ultimately also won the duel between the two captains against his national team colleague.

The quarter-finals of the Champions League are by no means decided for him. “It’s only half-time in this duel,” says Gündogan to t-online before the reunion on Wednesday evening (9 p.m.) in Munich: “We’re taking a really positive result from the first leg, but we have to repeat that again in the second leg and once again deliver our absolute best performance there.”

He and his team are “very excited to try and get through to the next round.” City’s chances of reaching the semi-finals are good after the clear victory in Manchester. However, Gündogan warned against looking too far ahead.

After all, that is “exactly the mistake we mustn’t make now: thinking about the final in Istanbul after the 3-0 win”. Especially for Gündogan, who has Turkish roots, the venue of the final is a special place of longing.

However, the knockout duel with Bayern is definitely not over yet. Gündogan knows exactly what awaits him and his team in Munich. He has played against the record champions a total of 17 times in his career, twelve times with Borussia Dortmund alone, where he played for five years before moving to England in 2016.

Under Pep Guardiola, who brought him to City, he has since risen to lead the team. “I learned so much from him,” says Gündogan about the special relationship with his coach: “It is a great honor and a great privilege to wear this bracelet, to be captain of this club and his team and to lead them.”

At the same time, he also feels a “great responsibility on and off the pitch,” says Gündogan, “but it’s something I do with dedication and try to get the best out of myself and the entire team.”

Gündogan, Guardiola and the entire club are driven by a major goal that City has so far been denied: winning the Champions League. In 2021, Manchester failed in the final (0-1) at Chelsea with team manager Thomas Tuchel. Under him, Gündogan played for BVB for a year, now Tuchel is on the sidelines as a coach at Bayern. In 2013, Munich’s Gündogan, who scored a penalty in the German final (1-2) to temporarily make it 1-1 for BVB, got in the way on the way to the title.

“Of course we want to win this trophy. It’s our big dream to win the Champions League,” he says now. Every professional footballer shares that with them. “But we want to win all the trophies this year,” says Gündogan: “It’s going to be a really exciting end to this season and we’re going to fight for it to the end.” After all, it is “our responsibility to do everything we can to end the season strong so that we can all celebrate success in the end.”

He recently celebrated ten competitive wins in a row with Manchester. In the Premier League, City are currently just four points behind leaders Arsenal – and have also played a game less. City meets second division side Sheffield United in the semi-finals of the FA Cup on Saturday. Above all, however, is undoubtedly the possible win of the Champions League title.