MX23RW : Wednesday, April 24 01:41:49| >> :120:8062:8062:

Ilkay Gundogan: 'Phil Foden does not need any advice'

Ilkay Gundogan: 'Phil Foden does not need any advice'
© Reuters
Manchester City face Chelsea in Porto on Saturday with Phil Foden, who turns 21 on Friday, expected to play a key role.

Ilkay Gundogan claims he does not need to give Phil Foden any advice ahead of this weekend's Champions League final.

Foden, 20, has been one of the stars of Manchester City's outstanding campaign and is strongly expected to feature against Chelsea in Porto on Saturday.

Such is the maturity in Foden's game, fellow midfielder Gundogan does not feel he will have any difficulty handling the pressure of the big night.

Foden has scored 16 goals in all club competitions this season, including winners in both legs of the quarter-final victory over Borussia Dortmund.

"Phil has become one of our main players throughout the season," said Gundogan, 30, who has netted 17 goals for City himself this term. "He is doing incredibly well.

Foden has been highly impressive this season
Foden has been highly impressive this season (Peter Powell/PA)

"He has improved in so many details of his game, mainly in taking the right decisions at crucial times.

"For such a young age, it is really impressive. I wouldn't recommend him to do or change anything from what he has been doing over the last few weeks. He is doing great. He is one of the game-changers for us and can be on Saturday.

"There is no need to put anyone under pressure. Everyone has done the right things in the last few months, in such a difficult season.

"I don't think there is much we should change. It is just about maintaining that level, that form, and going with that attitude into the game on Saturday."

City's progress to the final for the first time has come after years of frustration in the knockout stages.

The team had gone out in the quarter-finals in each of the past three seasons and Gundogan admitted last year's loss to unfancied Lyon was particularly tough to take.

Gundogan believes City have learned from their past Champions League exits
Gundogan believes City have learned from their past Champions League exits (Julien Poupert/PA)

Germany international Gundogan said: "For me personally it took a while, it was a big disappointment, something maybe we didn't expect, to lose that game.

"We felt quite good, we felt confident and when you feel like that and you lose it you are frustrated, you are sad, you might be a bit angry.

"But, at the end of the day, you don't have a choice. We went on holiday, came back, trained for a few days and went straight into the next season.

"We didn't have a choice apart from trying again. This year I feel a couple of crucial things have changed for us compared to other years.

"This year it seems to be we are so stable, especially in the back. I feel we are strong and this is so important in these crucial moments, especially in the knockout stages in the big games."

ID:448971: cacheID:448971:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:6666:
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola reacts on May 8, 2021
Read Next:
Pep Guardiola "could not care less" about referee appointment for CL final
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
10am
Munar
Borges
10am
Navone
Popyrin
10am
Vukic
Daniel
10am
Bouzas Maneiro
Badosa
10am
Davis
Sherif
10am
Putintseva
Yuan
10am
Stephens
Trevisan
10am
Zhu
Jimenez Kasintseva
11.30am
Altmaier
Landaluce
11.30am
Rinderknech
Shevchenko
11.30am
Safiullin
Seyboth Wild
11.30am
Arango
Anisimova
11.30am
Sorribes Tormo
Pera
11.30am
Zhang
Rogers
12pm
Osaka
Minnen
12pm
Vekic
Siegemund
1pm
Darderi
Monfils
1pm
Karatsev
Marozsan
1pm
Van Assche
Bergs
1pm
Linette
Cocciaretto
1pm
Wang
Tomova
1pm
Wang
Dolehide
1.30pm
Dart
Bucsa
1.30pm
Raducanu
Lourdes Carle
2.30pm
Bronzetti
Gracheva
2.30pm
Frech
Cristian
2.30pm
Hibino
Krueger
3pm
Coric
Hassan
3pm
Kokkinakis
Draper
3pm
Nakashima
Bagnis
3pm
Van De Zandschulp
Eubanks
4pm
Baptiste
Saville
4pm
Bejlek
Blinkova
4pm
Errani
Wozniacki
4pm
Montgomery
Avanesyan
4.30pm
Klein
Llamas Ruiz
4.30pm
Burel
Danilovic
5pm
Moutet
Shang
5.30pm
Diaz Acosta
Shapovalov
6pm
Andreeva
Townsend
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Arsenal34245582265677
2Liverpool33228375324374
3Manchester CityMan City32227376324473
4Aston Villa34206871502166
5Tottenham HotspurSpurs32186865491660
6Newcastle UnitedNewcastle321551269521750
7Manchester UnitedMan Utd32155124748-150
8West Ham UnitedWest Ham34139125463-948
9Chelsea32138116157447
10Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton321111105250244
11Wolverhampton WanderersWolves33127144653-743
12Fulham34126165054-442
13Bournemouth33119134860-1242
14Crystal Palace3399154256-1436
15Brentford3498175259-735
16Everton33108153448-1430
17Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest3479184260-1826
18Luton TownLuton3467214775-2825
19Burnley3458213769-3223
20Sheffield UnitedSheff Utd3337233188-5716


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!