The German national player Ilkay Gündogan is looking forward to the summit on Sunday (5.30 p.m. / Sky) at the English champions and Premier League leaders Manchester City with pursuers Liverpool FC.
“For the moment it’s really the biggest game on the continent. The two best teams in the best league meet,” said the 31-year-old in an interview with the Editorial Network Germany (RND) the value of the duel.
In Gündogan’s opinion, the importance of the top game can also be seen in the German media. “When I look at the reporting in Germany around this weekend, it seems that there is more interest in this game than in their own Bundesliga at the moment,” said the native of Gelsenkirchen.
In terms of sport, Gündogan wants to lay the foundation for what is possibly the most successful calendar year of his career in the encounter, in which his citizens go one point ahead.
With the championship in football’s motherland, the former Dortmund and Nuremberg player would in any case take the first step towards a personal treble before the Champions League with Manchester and, at the end of the year, the grab for the world cup title with the national team are still on the midfield star’s agenda .
Gündogan: “The World Cup is high on the wish list”
“Winning all three titles would be almost too good to be true. To be honest, two out of three would be absolutely outstanding. They are probably the three most difficult titles in world football to win,” he said.
Not least because of his age, the World Cup has top priority for Gündogan. “The World Cup is very high on the wish list. Maybe I’ll play another European Championship, but a lot would have to come together for another World Cup. So this will probably be my last chance,” emphasized the playmaker and indicated a resignation the team of national coach Hansi Flick after the home European Championship 2024 in Germany.
His newly acquired status as Germany’s top scorer in the Premier League has some significance for Gundogan. “To be honest, I didn’t really have this statistic on my list. It was only when I was asked about it after the game that I became aware of it,” said Gündogan about his 34th goal in the English championship last week: “It’s a nice one Matter.”
