29 October 2023 , 11:44
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A stunned Ilkay Gundogan has admitted that he expected his Barcelona teammates to be 'angrier' after losing 2-1 at home to arch-rivals Real Madrid in El Clasico.
Gundogan, 33, scored after just six minutes to give Barca an early lead in his first Clasico since joining the Blaugrana from Manchester City this summer. But two second-half goals from English superstar Jude Bellingham, including a 92nd-minute winner, gave the visitors all three points in dramatic fashion and left Gundogan raging.
The German midfielder hoped that his teammates would be equally furious when he returned to the dressing room but was shocked to see a number of muted reactions. "I don't want to say something wrong, to be honest," Gundogan told La Liga TV post-match.
"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 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."
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The 33-year-old, who spent seven seasons at City and won five Premier League titles, called for more "resistance" among his team, as Barcelona find themselves four points adrift of leaders Real and second-placed surprise package Girona after just 11 games. "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."
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Ilkay Gundogan scored the opening goal in El Clasico but eventually suffered defeat (Alex Caparros/Getty Images)Meanwhile, Barca boss Xavi felt that his side deserved to win the game, claiming: "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, patient... Maybe I'm exaggerating, but the feeling I have from the bench is that we deserved to win."