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Gundogan thrilled with ‘perfect’ City debut

“We played well. We probably could have scored a few more goals”, the City defender said.

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Manchester City kicked off their Champions League campaign last night with a comfortable 4-0 win over Borussia Mönchengladbach but all was not well with coach Pep Guardiola after the game.

Guardiola insists he does not know if a deal has been done, but would be delighted to see Aguero – who already has two hat-tricks to his name this season – commit to fresh terms.

The Spaniard, who reached the semifinals in all three seasons with Bayern Munich after winning the competition with Barcelona, praised his team for the efficient manner in which they dealt with tricky opponents. “It was good for us to start our story with a victory”, said Ranieri, whose team bounced back from a 4-1thumping at Liverpool at the weekend.

Widely considered one of the Premier League’s top performers, Aguero has scored 145 goals in 213 appearances since signing for City from Atletico Madrid.

“It was the most dominant performance of my time here, considering the importance of the game”.

“We had to get everything right, be very courageous and attack high up with high intensity”, said Schubert.

How soon may depend as much on avoiding more of the muscle injuries that have hampered him in the past as his form. “I knew how hard this would be for us”, said the Spaniard. “But he has to know that behind there is a team that’s going to help him, if he’s going to help, and that is what I want to convince him”.

Either way, Guardiola says he will be delighted if and when Aguero’s new contract is announced.

Gundogan, signed from Borussia Dortmund for 20 million pounds ($26.5 million, 23.5 million euros) during the close season, made a belated City debut on Wednesday with Silva absent.

He completed his treble with by rounding goalkeeper Yann Sommer with 13 minutes to play before making way for Kelechi Iheanacho to finish the scoring. I’m not born to score. “If he stays I will be so, so happy”. I am back a little earlier than I thought. “We had lost the full control we had in the first half and I thought he wrestled that back for us”.

It seems to me that, for all of the good Guardiola has accomplished at the Etihad in such a short space in time, he still views it as a work in progress.

The Nigerian forward scored his third senior goal in five worldwide appearances for Nigeria on the same evening as Rashford’s U21 debut hat-trick and the Blues star got the nod ahead of new signing, Leroy Sane to start in the Manchester derby in place of Sergio Aguero who missed out due to suspension.

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Gundogan said: “It has been a ideal start for us, with great performances over the last few weeks and some very special games”. And I’m going to feel that tomorrow. We have to be there in the quarter-final, semi-final and if we are lucky and good enough, in the final.

Manchester City's Sergio Aguero celebrates scoring their third goal to complete his hat trick Action Images via Reuters  Carl Recine Livepic