Gündoğan has played 11 minutes this season. On Tuesday he faces Barcelona

By the Data Desk · Published 12 OCT 06:30

Ilkay Gündoğan has played 11 minutes for Galatasaray this season, in two of the eight games he was available for. Asked after the 3-1 win over Kasımpaşa whether he was ready for Barcelona, his old club, he answered: “I'm not playing, so why would I be ready?”

• 11 minutes in 2 of 8 possible games, seven in the league and one in the Champions League (Hürriyet).
• Okan Buruk: he may have been angry after warming up and not coming on; “İlkay is a very valuable player.”
• Gündoğan later said he is not leaving in January and called Barcelona the biggest favourites for the Champions League (Fotomaç).

The line came after a home win that kept Galatasaray top of the Süper Lig. In Turkish it was “Oynamıyorum ki, niye hazır olayım?”, and in Germany Kicker ran it as “Warum sollte ich bereit sein?”. Hürriyet counted the context: 11 minutes from a possible 720.

Buruk did not escalate it. “Isınıp oyuna giremeyince sinirlenmiş olabilir,” he said: he may have got angry after warming up and not getting on. “İlkay çok değerli bir oyuncumuz. Süre almak istemesi normal.” A very valuable player, and it is normal that he wants minutes.

Gündoğan then calmed it himself, speaking to German reporters according to Fotomaç. “Hayır, bu söylentiler doğru değil,” he said of reports he would leave in January, and called Barcelona “the best team in Europe right now and the biggest favourite to win the Champions League”. About facing former teammates: “I'm not nervous, but I definitely have very special feelings.”

He spent one season at Barcelona, 2023-24, before going back to City and then to Istanbul. Galatasaray have Victor Osimhen back in training for the game, and Barcelona fly to Turkey on Monday.