Gundogan questioned Ronald Araujo’s decision to send him off against PSG

Ilkay Gundogan, the German footballer from Barcelona, ​​has explained why he believes Ronald Araujo made a mistake against Bradley Barcola in the decisive knockout game against Paris Saint-Germain. in the quarterfinals of the tournament UEFA Champions League 2023/24.

Barça won 3-2 in Paris and this Wednesday they opened the scoring in the rematch played at the Montjuïc Olympic Stadium with a goal from Rafinha after twelve minutes. However, Araujo was shown a red card in the 29th minute and PSG were then able to turn the series around, winning 4-1. The goals were scored by Ousmane Dembélé (40 minutes), Vitinha (54 minutes) and Kylian Mbappe (61 minutes and 89 minutes).

In dialogue with CBS Sports, Gundogan He described how he felt after being eliminated: “Disappointed. We are actually very disappointed because we were in such a good position not only after the first match but also after the first goal. Everything was in our hands and we just gave it away in the simplest way possible. We gave him to PSG and that’s the most offensive thing“

And in particular He commented on Araujo’s sending off without focusing on the Romanian referee Istvan Kovac, but on the decision made by his teammate, contrary to what coach Xavi Hernandez said..

The German said: “If he misses, I think it will be a red card. I haven’t seen the replay, so I don’t know. I think in those crucial moments you need to make sure you get the ball.. If you don’t make it, and I don’t know, again, whether you’re going to touch the ball or not, you’re going to have to stay away.”

“I prefer, of course, to miss a goal, it is possible to leave the attacker one on one, even if he hit the ball quite far; so I don’t even know if he was able to reach the ball, but give the striker a chance, let our goalkeeper stop the goal, or you might even concede a goal because losing a player so early in the game is killing you“The game kills you,” said the 33-year-old, who won the 2022/23 Champions League with Manchester City.

Gundogan summed up Barca’s elimination: “In this competition, form or the moment you are in doesn’t really matter; You can come with so many games won in recent weeks and with so much confidence, but Decisive actions and critical situations reward or punish you. And in this game, unfortunately for us, we were punished“