Ilkay Gundogan told Cole Palmer he was claiming some of the assist for Manchester City's second goal against Barcelona after deliberately making sure he didn't touch the ball in the build-up.
Palmer had spotted his teammate in an excellent position as he advanced up the pitch in possession as the Blues looked for an equaliser but Gundogan had spotted Kevin De Bruyne in an even better spot and shouted at Palmer to notice the Belgian on his other side; the Wythenshawe youngster paid full attention to his more senior colleague and, after offloading the ball to his right, then continued his run to be in the box to slot home after De Bruyne had found Riyad Mahrez who in turn passed it on to Joao Cancelo overlapping.
Gundogan may have made the selfless act for the team but he joked in the celebrations that he wanted his contribution noted. "When I received the ball and was driving forward I was going to play Ilkay in on the left but he shouted 'Kevin, Kevin'", said Palmer. "I then looked to my right and played in Kevin and we scored from it.
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"I said to Ilkay that I wasn't even going to play over there because I was going to play him in. He said he knew and that he'd take some of the assist, so we laughed about that."
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The awareness shown by the new club captain illustrates why he is so appreciated by Pep Guardiola, but also touches on his coaching potential. Gundogan took sessions in City's academy sides last season as part of his UEFA B coaching license and wowed the Under-21s coach Brian Barry-Murphy during a summer training camp in Croatia with both his ideas and ability to translate them easily for the younger players.
Gundogan is into the final year of his contract at the Etihad, and is hoping to play regularly this season as he weighs up his future after admitting he was left angry at the decision to bench him for the last two games of the previous campaign. The 31-year-old is one of nine players to have started all three league games so far.
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