Man City fans tell Pep Guardiola to axe ‘finished’ player for good after Champions League scare.
Manchester City fans have urged Pep Guardiola to drop one player after their UEFA Champions League clash against Club Brugge.
Heading into the last round of fixtures in the first phase of this season’s Champions League, City were under immense pressure as they needed to win to secure passage to the next stage.
Guardiola’s men had to dig deep after Raphael Onyedika’s goal gave Club Brugge a 1-0 half-time lead.
However, in the second half, City moved up the gears as goals from Mateo Kovacic and Savinho plus an own goal by Joel Ordonez sealed a 3-1 victory.
As a result, City advanced to the play-off round by finishing in 22nd place.
The champions of England will now take on either Real Madrid or Bayern Munich for a spot in the round of 16.
During the match against Club Brugge, City fans were less than happy with the performance of midfielder Ilkay Gundogan and called on Guardiola to take action.
Reacting on social media, one fan said: “Will Pep Guardiola finally realize what everyone else already knows, that Gundogan is a walking dead, and with him, we’re playing a man down?”
Another tweeted: “Gundogan is past it. No legs. Get the young lads in. McAtee?”
A third fan added: “Pep needs to realise Gundogan just isn’t the same guy who left us after the treble, it’s sad but he’s done at the highest level!”
Someone else wrote: “What was Pep thinking starting Gundogan? He is beyond finished.”
A fifth commented: “Doesn’t take a genius to know Gundogan was the issue. Seriously Foden on left wing over Savinho just to have Gundogan on midfield? Madness.”
Gundogan played a key role in City’s treble winning season before leaving the club to join Barcelona. The German then returned to the Etihad Stadium during the summer transfer window but has so far struggled to produce his best football.
Speaking after the match, Guardiola said: “We did it. We are there. In two weeks we’ll be better than we are right now because new players come back, new signings against these two giants [Real Madrid or Bayern Munich] – one of them we’re going to play and we’ll see what happens…”
City are back in Premier League action this weekend when they take on Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
