Ilkay Gundogan has reacted to his first start back in a Manchester City shirt and Barcelona fans couldn’t hide their sadness in the replies.
Manchester City fought back from going behind after just 22 seconds to defeat Brentford on Saturday, thanks to yet another couple of goals from the unstoppable Erling Haaland.
It was a difficult victory but it means Pep Guardiola’s side are top of the Premier League table and the only team to have won all their games after Liverpool were upset by Nottingham Forest.
The match also saw Ilkay Gundogan come in for his first start since rejoining City in the summer transfer window.
The Blues pulled off the sensational coup as Barcelona wanted to off-load the midfielder for nothing just a year after signing him so they could register new big-money arrival Dani Olmo.
City didn’t hesitate to bring back their beloved captain and, after a rough start in which he played his part in Yoane Wissa’s opener, he quickly settled back into things.
In fact, his performance was so impressive that Barcelona fans have flooded his Instagram replies expressing their disappointment that the club let him go.
Barcelona fans respond to Ilkay Gundogan’s Instagram post
After the match, Gundogan took to Instagram to share his delight with the team’s victory.
He wrote in the caption: “4/4, Great teamwork- We dominated that game – fully deserved. #CmonCity”
While there were lots of City fans sending their messages of support to the German, countless Barcelona fans also replied, not afraid to express their regret that he no longer plays for their side.
One Barca fan poetically wrote, translated from Spanish: “You are still as beautiful as the day you left our side,” with a sad face emoji.
Another added: “Great game Ilkay, we miss you at Barca,” and those thoughts were echoed by another user who wrote: “[Barcelona president, Joan] Laporta made a mistake when he sold you.”
Another fan showed his annoyance at Barcelona’s decision by adding: “Gundo > Dani Olmo” and there were plenty more broken heart and crying face emojis flooding the comments.
Barcelona’s loss has been City’s massive gain.
A bold claim from Ilkay Gundugoan after Brentford win
Though City were probably worthy winners against Brentford after controlling the second half in typical fashion following the introduction of Rodri, Gundogan’s claim that ‘we dominated that game’ is a bit bold.
Not only did City go behind after 22 seconds, but they were extremely fortunate not to concede two or even three.
Buoyed by the early strike, Brentford took the game to City, repeatedly driving through the middle, getting in behind and creating dangerous chances.
It took a combination of Ederson and Rico Lewis to stop Bryan Mbuemo scoring moments later and only the goalkeeper’s quick instincts off his line cut out several threatening passes.
Guardiola himself admitted after the game: “The first half, I don’t remember in nine years [a team] that played in the way Brentford played in the first 20 or 30 minutes [today], and I give credit to them… It’s an extraordinary team. We suffered from it since they were promoted into the Premier League.”
That’s certainly not a dominating performance, as Gundogan says, but it makes the victory all the more impressive.
