Ilkay Gundogan’s wife wades into dressing room divide with other Barcelona players

Ilkay Gundogan for a second time this season is the focus of attention in Barcelona for his post-match statements, after he called out his teammates for a series of simple mistakes that led to their Champions League exit against Paris Saint-Germain.

The German midfielder said that Barcelona destroyed themselves, and pointed out mistakes from Ronald Araujo, Robert Lewandowski and Joao Cancelo – without naming them – in his post-match interview as the reasons for their downfall.

That interview went viral, with many praising his leadership and honesty. Some within the Barcelona dressing room viewed the interview positively, and told Gundogan that he was right to express himself as he did, but other reports say that it had divided opinion amongst other colleagues.

It was notable that Jules Kounde posted on his Instagram that ‘By the way, we win and we lose as a team’, while captain Sergi Roberto also noted in his post that ‘the victories and defeats we achieve together’.

Now, as reported by Sport, Sara Gundogan has posted on Instagram in support of her husband, explaining that his opinions were all aimed as constructive criticism.

It is not the first time that Sara Gundogan has railed against the media in Catalonia, calling out false reports that their family was unhappy with how Barcelona had handled their arrival in the City. Following Gundogan’s first constructive criticism of the dressing, it snowballed into an issue that ended with him apologising to the squad before a training session – the small matter of a Clasico on Sunday should provide ample distraction for the Blaugrana.