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Manchester City: Pep Guardiola is said to miss Ilkay Gundogan
The fact that City were knocked out on penalties against Real Madrid in the Champions League was, from a purely sporting point of view, little surprise. The Skyblues seemed to have everything under control, especially in the second leg. In the end it was 33 to eight completions. But Madrid progressed to the next round.
The perception of total control was also somewhat misleading. With a total of 2.7 expected goals (according to FBref), Guardiola’s team did not achieve particularly high values. High? Yes. Especially against Real Madrid. But not high enough to be considered excessive dominance. Over 33 shots calculated, that’s 0.08 xG per shot – the best average value for the top clubs.
Real, on the other hand, created too many of their eight shots: 1.4 xG or 0.17 per shot – above average. Especially since the early lead also affected their way of playing: Madrid limited themselves to defending and did not focus on creating as many chances as possible. And City found solutions, but not always the best ones.
And this is where the connection can be made to the departure of Gundogan, who left for Barcelona in the summer of 2023. Already in May, a few days after the end of the Premier Class, there were the first rumors that they would regret the decision to let the captain leave. According to Mundo Sports Guardiola badly missed his outstretched arm on the pitch.
