Ilkay Gundogan, the captain of Manchester City, has called on his team to stay focused after they drew with RB Leipzig in the Champions League on Wednesday night.
Manchester City’s Champions League campaign continued on Wednesday night with a draw against RB Leipzig at the Red Bull Arena. Pep Guardiola’s men had taken the lead through Riyad Mahrez’s goal, but were unable to hold on as the German side responded with a towering header from Josko Gvardiol.
Despite the result, City captain Ilkay Gundogan remained optimistic about his side’s performance. Speaking to club media after the match, he praised the team’s first-half display and expressed confidence in their ability to finish the job in the return leg at the Etihad Stadium.
“The performance, especially in the first half, was really good,” Gundogan said. “At the end as well, we had a couple of chances to get the winner. Unfortunately it was not meant to be. It was the expected difficult second half. At the end of the day, it’s a good result to take home. Obviously now, we have to finish the job at the Etihad.”
Gundogan also acknowledged the need for improvement in City’s second-half performance, admitting that the team had been “a bit sloppy” and allowed Leipzig opportunities to counter-attack.
“This is the Champions League, simple things get punished easily,” he added.
City will now turn their attention to Saturday’s Premier League fixture against Bournemouth, before hosting Leipzig in the return leg on March 14th.
With Guardiola’s men currently sitting second in the league table, the pressure will be on to continue their impressive domestic form and carry that momentum into their European campaign.