‘Treble mentality’ – Ilkay Gundogan’s TV presenter wife Sara defends scathing assessment of Barcelona team-mates by ex-Man City captain following painful Champions League defeat to PSG

Former Manchester City captain Gundogan – who claimed Premier League, FA Cup and European titles last season – did not hold back when casting a rueful eye over Barca’s 4-1 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain that saw them dumped out of continental competition at the quarter-final stage.

Gundogan appeared to point fingers of blame at Ronald Araujo, following his costly red card, while also questioning Joao Cancelo for conceding a penalty and Robert Lewandowski for failing to get tight enough when Vitinha put PSG 2-1 up on the night.

There has been criticism of Gundogan’s post-match interview in Catalunya, and across social media, while Jules Kounde and Sergi Roberto are among those to have posted messages pointing out that Barca “win and we lose as a team” and “achieve together”.

Sara Gundogan has now spoken out in defence of her partner, saying in a message of her own that featured an image of her husband hoisting the Champions League trophy aloft as City skipper: “This man is a hard working guy and his football opinions are about improving and he is giving everything to this team. His mentality is a treble mentality.”

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It is not the first time that Sara has responded to detractors in Spain, with supposedly false reports called out that claimed Gundogan was unhappy and unsettled at Camp Nou following his 2023 move to Barcelona as a free agent.