2024-08-05 07:45:02
Ilkay Gundogan allegedly complained about his FC Barcelona teammates to Real Madrid star Arda Guler … [+]
Ilkay Gundogan has been caught allegedly complaining about his FC Barcelona teammates to Real Madrid star Arda Guler following their two clubs’ friendly battle at the MetLife Stadium on Saturday.
Pau Victor’s stunning double proved enough to seal victory and make it two wins from two on Barca’s preseason tour of the United States.
And while Hansi Flick was slightly critical of his side’s display, demanding that it presses for the whole 90 minutes, Gundogan’s alleged comments to Guler following the full time whistle could be taken far more harshly.
As highlighted by outlets such as Tribuna, Turkish lip readers on Reddit attempted to decipher Gundogan’s words which don’t have audio on a clip of the two players which AS also shared.
While Gundogan was born in Germany and represents the German national team, he was raised by Turkish parents meaning that the conversation with Guler appears to take place in their mother tongue.
Gundogan allegedly tells Guler: “They don’t play with the brain. If they play with the brain… they don’t use it. Look at how many turnovers they’ve had in the last 15 minutes.”
Once this gets back to his Barca teammates, it might not be taken well. Furthermore, it wouldn’t be the first time that ‘Gundo’ has publicly badmouthed them, and instead at least the third to be more specific.
Gundogan was visibly angered in an October interview after Barca suffered its first loss of the season to eventual La Liga winners Real Madrid, and he implied that his colleagues didn’t take the defeat as seriously as they should have.
“I wish there was more anger, frustration and disappointment,” he explained to La Liga TV.
Then in April this year, Gundogan singled out defender Ronald Araujo without naming him directly after the Uruguayan was red-carded for recklessly sliding in on Paris Saint-Germain forward Bradley Barcola.
Araujo’s dismissal led to 10-men Barca squandering a 3-1 aggregate lead and losing 5-3 overall in a Champions League quarterfinal tie.
Gundogan’s words caused an internal storm, with Araujo citing “a code” he abides by for not discussing the fallout publicly.
And while the matter seems to have been dealt with and put to bed, Gundogan might have to again explain himself before the rest of Hansi Flick’s squad.
At the same time, Reddit user AnEnoBir on the lip-reading post confirmed that while Gundogan had said such words to Guler they “are not as offensive as they sound in English”.
“It’s [“brainless”] a common phrase in Turkish, and people use it all the time, whether in traffic or watching sports. Some players have a low basketball IQ and made a mistake? Brainless. Someone made a turn without giving a signal while driving? They don’t have any brain.
“So İlkay whomever he is talking about doesn’t say that they are idiots but more that they showed low football IQ,” the user concluded.
