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Ilkay Gundogan will find other ways to keep himself occupied when Liverpool face Real Madrid in the Champions League final as he is still “angry” at Manchester City’s exit.
City were eliminated at the semi-final stage last week with a remarkable 6-5 aggregate defeat to Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Last season’s beaten finalists, who have yet to win UEFA’s showpiece competition, were ahead 5-3 in the tie with less than a minute of normal time remaining in the Spanish capital before Rodrygo scored twice and Karim Benzema netted an extra-time penalty.
And while he openly admits to being obsessed with all things football, Gundogan has no intention of tuning in to watch City’s conquerors Madrid take on Liverpool in Paris.
“If I think about the final in Paris then I get very angry,” he told the Daily Mail. “Frustrated, disappointed. I’m definitely not going to watch it.
“I will definitely try to do something else that day. Nothing is going to really help; the only thing that will is time.
“It’s becoming a little bit easier, even though you know – yet again – you’ve missed a big chance to lift a possible trophy.”
He added: “Maybe there’s not much we can tell ourselves that we did wrong but at the end of the day, we conceded two goals in two minutes.
“We were not there when it was necessary and we were not focused enough. It was not enough. That is the blame we give ourselves.”
Gundogan, a second-half substitute in the second leg against Madrid, has won eight major trophies with City – but European silverware continues to elude him and the club.
That could soon become nine trophies as City will be crowned Premier League champions for a fourth time in five years if they win their remaining three matches.
City have been pushed all the way by Liverpool, who they have battled it out with for domestic honours over the past few seasons, though the rivalry remains relatively peaceful.
That is a far cry from the days when matters would often boil over both before and after matches between title rivals Manchester United and Arsenal.
Gundogan, who also won the Bundesliga with Borussia Dortmund in 2011-12, insists football has moved on in recent years.
“Those kind of rivalries don’t really exist anymore in modern football,” he said. “For some people who are more old school you know, that might be bad.
“The game is not like, I don’t know, 20-30 years ago, with people on the pitch killing each other and intentionally trying to injure.
“That’s not how we want the game to be. I want fairness. I want respect. Just because there’s a rivalry we don’t need to kill each other on or off the pitch.”
