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‘He turns into prime Zidane’ – Kyle Walker jokingly compares Manchester City's Ilkay Gundogan to Zinedine Zidane

James Hilsum

Updated 17/05/2023 at 11:49 GMT+1

Kyle Walker praised the form of his Manchester City team-mate heading into the mouth-watering Champions League semi-final second leg against Real Madrid at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday night. The England defender compared the German to legendary France captain Zinedine Zidane, highlighting Gundogan's form in the business end of the season. City are chasing a treble, emulating rivals Man United.

Guardiola promises not to 'overthink' Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid

Kyle Walker was in a jovial mood looking ahead to Manchester City’s Champions League semi-final second leg against Real Madrid, comparing team-mate Ilkay Gundogan to Zinedine Zidane.
Gundogan has been in scintillating form across recent weeks after scoring four goals and registering two assists in his last three games.
Among those assists saw the German tee up Kevin De Bruyne to rifle home a crucial equaliser at the Bernabeu in last week’s first leg.
Walker highlighted how the German shines when it really matters and made a reference to the iconic former France World Cup-winning midfielder.
Speaking in a pre-match press conference, he said: “I’ve seen a few tweets and been joking with Gundo that he turns into prime Zidane in the last few months.
“Sometimes you have to shine, and he does it at the business end of the season.”
City have motored to within one win of securing a third consecutive Premier League and are one match away from progressing into the Champions League final, following a 22-match unbeaten run in all competitions.
They also face Manchester United in the FA Cup final on June 3, and could emulate their cross-city rivals by claiming a treble.
Walker admits that while their run to the Champions League semi-finals has been as smooth as expected, the path towards domestic glory saw a few bumps along the way.
“In the Champions League, I thought we were doing well,” he explained.
“In the Premier League, there was a big gap and we didn’t want it to be bigger – there is a fine line where it could've been over, but with this group, nothing’s over, we kick on at the business end of the season.”
The 32-year-old is now eager to right the wrongs of their surprise defeat to Chelsea in the 2021 Champions League final, and believes the squad is stronger after experiencing that setback.
“I’d have liked to do it when we played Chelsea (in the 2021 final) but it was a learning curve. This group have been together for a few years and learned to overcome situations, in winning and losing positions. I remember against Tottenham in 2019 when we thought Raheem Sterling had scored.
“We’ve gone through rough and good moments but hopefully this is the icing on the cake to put our name in the history books and put this club on the UCL map.”
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