Manchester City manager, Pep Guardiola, has claimed Ilkay Gundogan played the “worst game” he has seen of him in the last eight or nine years against Newcastle last weekend.
Gundogan failed to impress at St James Park as City were held to a 1-1 draw.
However, the German midfielder was back on the score sheet, as the Premier League champions crushed Slovan Bratislava 4-0 in the Champions League on Tuesday night.
And Guardiola told TNT: “Ilkay Gundogan played at a level that we know he can do it.
“The game in Newcastle was not really good, maybe one of the worst I’ve seen of him in the last eight or nine years… then he played a fantastic game in the Champions League.”
Gundogan returned to the Etihad this summer after spending one year at Barcelona.