Create 2 goals alone! The 34-year-old veteran leads Manchester City to lock in the Champions League qualification, Guardiola keeps him fine

In the early morning of May 26, the final battle of the 2024/25 Premier League season began at the same time. Defending champion Manchester City beat the farmer Fuller 2-0 away game, successfully locked in the Premier League third place and advanced to the Champions League next season. In this game, 34-year-old veteran Gundogan started for 85 minutes, scored 1 goal and won a penalty, becoming the biggest contributor to the team's victory. According to British media reports, Gundogan will continue to play at Manchester City next season.

Before this game, Manchester City ranked third in the Premier League standings with 68 points, but Aston Villa, who ranked 6th, had only 2 points. If they lose the game in the last round in an upset, they are still in danger of missing the Champions League next season. In this game, Gundoan started as the front midfielder, Doku and Marmush separated from each other, and Haaland suddenly stepped forward. De Bruyne, who left the team this summer, is on standby.

21 minutes into the game, Manchester City took the lead, right back Mattus Nunes made a cross, Gundoan scored the ball with a wonderful inverted gold hook in the penalty area, and Manchester City led 1-0 away. In the 72nd minute of the second half, Gundoan was knocked down to get the ball in the penalty area, and the referee awarded a penalty kick. Haaland took the penalty and scored 2-0. In the 85th minute, De Bruyne came on as a substitute to replace Gundogan, staged a farewell match for Manchester City's career in Premier League. With Ederson's save and save in the 5th minute of injury time, Manchester City played 2-0 away.

In this game, Manchester City had a 53% ball possession rate, scored 2 goals with 20 shots and 3 excellent scoring opportunities and missed 2 times. Gundogan played for 85 minutes, scored 1 goal and created 1 penalty kick, and sent out the highest 6 key passes and 4 fouls. In addition, he also had 2 breakthroughs, 1 steal and 1 successful top-up, and won 6 times in 7 ground-to-ground confrontations. After the game, the 34-year-old veteran scored the highest score of 8.8 points, which is well deserved. After the game, Gundogan said in an interview with the media that it is important to qualify for the Champions League. Gundogan gave a high evaluation of De Bruyne, who is about to leave the team. "He is one of the most special players I have ever worked with and one of the best players in Premier League history. He will be missed, and we wish him all the best." In addition, according to British media reports, 34-year-old Gundogan will still stay at the Etihad Stadium next season. And there is nothing wrong with Guardiola and Manchester City doing this. Because there is still a big difference between him and De Bruyne.

First of all, 34-year-old Gundoan still has a good competitive state, and this game is a good example. Of course, compared with before leaving Manchester City, Gundogan's personal data has dropped significantly, but this is also directly related to Rodri's serious injury. When Rodri was there, Gundogan could fully utilize his ability to advance and assist. This season, Rodri was absent for a long time, and Gundogan had to undertake more defensive interception tasks in the midfield, which also affected his performance on the offensive end. With Rodri returning next season, Gundogan's performance is still worth looking forward to.

Secondly, compared with De Bruyne, Gundogan is not the maximum salary in the team, nor is he the absolute main force. In other words, his presence will not have any impact on Manchester City's establishment of a new midfield core. This is essentially different from De Bruyne. After all, the latter has been Manchester City's absolute offensive core for the past 10 years. Even if he expresses his willingness to accept the substitute position, it will put a lot of pressure on the newly joined players and even discourage them.

Of course, there is another very important point that as one of the players with the deepest understanding of Guardiola's passing and control tactical concept, Gundogan may not only be a player in the new season, but also play the role of an assistant coach. His presence can help new players integrate into the team better and faster. In this sense, Guardiola has nothing to do with keeping him.