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Gundogan said he believes Manchester City have learned their lessons
from their league defeat to Liverpool ahead of their Champions League
quarter-final first leg at Anfield on Wednesday.
City lost 4-3 at Anfield in January for their only Premier League defeat this season following a devastating nine minute spell that saw Liverpool score three times through Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mané and Mohamed Salah.
The City midfielder, who played in that game, said that his team fully recognise Liverpool’s attacking threat, but they are keen for revenge.
"There’s a lot of respect, because all three have scored plenty of goals and they’ve also set up many more," he said. "Liverpool are still the only team that’s been capable of beating us in the Premier League. But we’re aware why this happened, although we performed pretty well that day.
"Obviously, going back to Anfield for the first-leg game is a great motivation for us. We’ll try to play well and get a good result for the second leg. We’re aware of our strengths and know what we’re capable of. We want to prove that in both games, of course.
"We’d like to get a great result in the first leg and then dominate the game in the second leg, in front of our fans. That’s what we want to do and, if we achieve that, then I’m sure we’ll make it into the next round.”
Gundogan added that he had been in touch with Jurgen Klopp, the man who signed him while at Borussia Dortmund, following the draw.
"We did chat a bit at that time," he said. "I only said: 'See you soon' and sent him a little smiley emoji, to which he answered with a smiley as well.
"We were both happy with this match-up, although maybe we’d both have liked to face foreign opposition. That would’ve given us the chance of having two English teams in the semi-finals."
