Ilkay Gundogan’s brace along with goals from Bernardo Silva and Sergio Aguero helped beat FC Basel 4-0 away in their round-of-16 first leg clash on Tuesday night. Pep Guardiola’s men now in a commanding position ahead of the return leg at the Etihad.
In all praise for Gundogan, Guardiola said, “Gundo is an extraordinary player. Last season we missed him a lot when he was injured. Not just his goals, his personality to play, he was fantastic. I am so happy for him.”
Admitting that his side were in fantastic form, the coach said that 4-0 in an away match was an amazing result. “Four-zero away – it’s amazing result, but the Champions League is 180 minutes in total. Vincent came back; Delph came back… a lot of players are back from injury. Gabriel is coming back soon. Apart from Mendy, we will have all the squad soon. We are almost there in the quarter-finals. I’m not saying it’s done but we’ve had an amazing result. We defended the long balls quite well, but we were clinical today,” Guardiola was quoted by the official website of Manchester City.
“My experience in the UCL last 16 is it is only over after the second game. Of course, we will be focused against Basel at the Etihad, but with Arsenal and Chelsea to play it’s important to be focused there, too. If we are able to go to the quarterfinals, that’s better than last season,” he added.
“It’s not easy to keep the level we have been playing at, but we did it. Overall, I’m delighted. Now we prepare for the next game against Wigan on Monday.
Meanwhile, Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany has urged his team to finish the job in style in next month’s Champions League last 16 decider against FA Basel. “We have shown that we were the better team tonight and only for a lack of motivation and effort could we be not that team again at the Etihad and that’s not permitted. For me, the highlights were the work-rate in defending and recovering the ball early.”