Hard-hitting statement

Guardiola: ruthless criticism after Gündogan’s gala

Pep Guardiola hugs Ilkay Gündogan - after the match, the Spanish coach was ruthlessly honest.(Bild: APA/AFP)

Manchester City won 4:0 at Slovan Bratislava on Tuesday - also thanks to an outstanding Ilkay Gündogan, who made it 1:0 early on. The fact that coach Pep Guardiola then reprimanded the German for "one of his worst" games surprised all observers ...

After the clear success on the second Champions League matchday, Guardiola initially praised his midfield strategist, who had returned to Manchester in the summer after a one-year interlude at Barcelona, for an "intelligent and fantastic" performance. Gündogan showed a "strong mentality" after the poor performance in the league at the weekend.

Ilkay Gündogan(Bild: APA/AFP)

"One of his worst games"
However, the successful Spanish coach made it clear that he really didn't like the performance of his extended arm on the pitch in Newcastle (1:1). "The game wasn't really good, maybe one of the worst I've seen from him in the last eight or nine years," Guardiola's hard-hitting analysis told TNT Sports.

At the end of the day, everyone at Manchester City was happy - both in the league (second place) and in the Champions League (four points from two games), the "Citizens" are on course.