Ilkay Gündogan: How the Barcelona star became crucial for Germany

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Euro 2024 

Germany are through to the next round of Euro 2024 thanks to an excellent performance by their captain, Ilkay Gündogan. The current Barcelona and former Manchester City star created the opening goal for Jamal Musiala (22’) and then scored the second goal (67’) to lead Germany to a 2-0 victory over Hungary. With that victory, Germany needs to secure just a draw to win Group A.

More importantly, however, Gündogan has proven all those wrong, who wondered whether there was still room for the 33-year-old in Julian Nagelsmann’s lineup. “He worked a lot, was in touch with us on the sidelines a lot, he tried to guide and control the game,” Nagelsmann said about his captain after the game. “He’s a very clever player, we have to trust him a lot. He was Man City’s captain when they won the Champions League, and he was one of their best players. We all have to push him a bit because we know what’s inside him.” 

The statistics underline Gündogan’s excellent performance against Hungary. The Germany captain completed 84% of his passes, had 51 touches, six touches in the opponent’s box, and won 50% of his duels. “I always want to do my job on the pitch as best as possible,” Gündogan said when confronted with his excellent performance. “In this attacking position, where you often have to show up between the opponent’s lines and create passing options, it’s not so easy. But the feeling is getting better, especially with such guys around you.”

The performances against Scotland, where Gündogan secured an assist, and Hungary have been a big turning point for Gündogan. Although Germany steadily improved under Nagelsmann, securing big wins in friendlies over France (2-0) and the Netherlands (2-1), Gündogan seemed somewhat out of place. The captain, in fact, looked tired and a bit out of form raising questions on whether he was capable of playing in Nagelsmann’s system.

Those issues, however, might have been simply a matter of being overplayed by Barcelona. Indeed, a glance in the Transfermarkt database reveals that Gündogan has played 4180 minutes across all competitions this season going into the tournament. Kroos, who has been in the form of his life, has managed his minutes better, playing just 3181 minutes across all competitions. But Barcelona’s early Champions League exit meant that Gündogan received some much-needed rest, allowing him to set the stage for a great start to Euro 2024.