Ilkay Gundogan: “Today was once again about showing character,”

Ilkay Gundogan knew Manchester City had it in them. The match MVP spoke after City sealed their place in the final four of the UCL. He had a lot to say about the team’s character and mindset heading in to matches v PSG.

Let’s dive in-

“We know how tough this competition is every single year.”

“Everyone has quality, and this Borussia Dortmund team has a lot of quality, on a good day they can beat anyone.

“It’s about staying in the game, your attitude and your personality in that stage of the competition.

“We proved ourselves today that we are ready to fight in the semi-finals.”

“Today was once again about showing character,” he reflected.

“I don’t think we played well at all in the first 15 minutes, we struggled, we weren’t quick enough, we were a bit scared to lose something, I think that was quite obvious.

“But after conceding we started to get better, we were able to hold more possession, keep the ball and create a couple of good chances.

“Then our target at half time was to come back into the game as score the first goal in the second half to get the game back into our hands.

“That’s exactly what we did and we’re proud of that.”

“We are professional footballers and we play the game to be successful.

“We want to be successful in every single game, that doesn’t guarantee it but we just try the next one and that’s exactly what we’re going to do on Saturday and then we’ll see.”

Now that’s a leader. Ilkay is right on the money. The way the team ended is how they will need to play during both legs to advance to the final. A massive set of matches v PSG awaits.