“His mentality is a hat-trick,” Gündogan’s wife supports him after his criticism of Araujo

Ilkay Gündogan’s wife came to the defense on social networks after the FC Barcelona midfielder’s criticism of his partner Ronald Araujo, excluded during the defeat against PSG in the quarter-final second leg of the Champions League (1-4).

His words created many reactions on the other side of the Pyrenees. And not everyone liked it. After FC Barcelona’s loss against PSG on Tuesday in the quarter-final second leg of the Champions League (1-4), Ilkay Gündogan publicly criticized his teammate Ronald Araujo. The Uruguayan defender was sent off shortly after half an hour for a major foul on Bradley Barcola, who was on his way to Marc-André Ter Stegen’s goal.

“No matter who the opponent is, it’s impossible to come back if one of your players is sent off,” Gündogan said after the match on CBS Sports. “In these crucial moments you have to be sure that you can win the ball back. If you don’t win it back, you have to let the opponent go. I prefer to concede a goal or let the attacker be one-on-one. The fact of losing a playing to red so early in the game kills you.”

“A hard working man”

The spicy exit of the Turkish national team player (75 internationals, 18 goals) earned him some criticism in Catalonia. Criticized for his lack of solidarity, the 33-year-old received support from his wife, with whom he has been in a relationship for four years (they married in 2022 and have a one-year-old son named Kais). Sara Gündogan posted a message in an Instagram story to defend the former Manchester City metronome, who arrived for free last summer to Barça, after achieving a historic treble (Champions League-Premier League-FA Cup).

“He is a hard working man and his opinions on football are aimed at improving and giving everything for his team, his mentality is the hat-trick,” wrote the 29-year-old model (also a TV presenter), born. in the Treviso region (Italy) to Tunisian parents and raised in Nice. Followed by more than 800,000 people on Instagram, in 2020 she who became known as Sara Benarima (real name Arfaoui) participated in the reality TV show “Princes and Princesses of Love” broadcast on W9. A few months before she met her future husband.

“We must learn from such a defeat”

Following his criticism of Ronald Araujo (who apologized to the Catalan supporters), Ilkay Gündogan also posted a mobilizing message on his Instagram account: “What a frustrating night, very painful to lose the game like this has the mentality to get back up, learn from such a defeat and try again next season, but for now the classic is coming (against Real Madrid on Sunday in La Liga, editor’s note) and we have to concentrate fully.