Manchester City midfielder, Ilkay Gundogan got a funny reply from Liverpool coach, Jurgen Klopp when he congratulated him for winning the 2020 Premier League title.
Liverpool won their first Premier League in 30 years after Chelsea defeated City at the Stamford Bridge. As per sportsmanship, Gundogan, who had played under the German tactician during his stint with Borussia Dortmund decided to send his former coach a text message, after his club was crowned Premier League champions.
Jurgen Klopp was brief in his message
Moreover, they are now rivals after going their separate ways, but Gundogan still has great respect for the Liverpool boss.
In an interview with SportBild, the 29-year-old Germany international joked that Klopp was brief in his reply.
“Of course, I like him very much and had great years with him at Borussia Dortmund. I congratulated him right after the championship and he later sent me a few smileys back.
“I don’t know exactly what the alcohol level was at the moment, but I assume that he was happy.”
Next focus for Gundogan is the Champions League
In another development, Gundogan and his teammates have a special assignment at hand – to defeat Real Madrid and progress to the last eight of the Champions League.
City won Real Madrid 2-1 at the Bernabeau in the first leg of their last 16 tie. They will be welcoming the newly crowned La Liga champions to the Etihad Stadium during the weekend to fight for a place in the last eight.
As Zinedine Zidane will be going head to head against Pep Guardiola again, Gundogan said that is part of what will make the tie such an attractive prospect for fans to watch.
This is expected to be a top clash judging from both managers’ managerial credentials. Zidane, who recently won his first La Liga as a manager will be hoping to overturn the first-leg deficit against the dethroned Premier League champions.
With only the League Cup and the Community Shield being the honours in their locker this season, Man City might want to push further and win their first Champions League trophy.
But they will have to overcome a Madrid team that recorded ten straight wins since the restart of the La Liga after the coronavirus break.
“Guardiola and Zidane are of course two coaches who meet at world-class level.
“The fact that Real has won the league again shows that Zidane knows how to win titles. Because that’s the same with Pep, the duel becomes even more attractive.”
