Deco Gives Update on Barça’s Morale After Gundogan Slams Team-Mates Following El Classico Defeat To Real Madrid 

Deco discussed the team spirit at Barcelona in response to Ilkay Gundogan’s critical comments after their Clasico loss to Real Madrid.

The German midfielder scored against Los Blancos in his debut Clasico, but Jude Bellingham’s valiant efforts kept his team from losing to their enduring enemies in the season’s first derby.

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Following the defeat, Gundogan could not keep his calm and hit out at the squad while urging them “to express more emotions when you lose”. However, Deco did his best to play down the comments and insisted that the situation is under control.

“Everything is settled, it’s internal things and everything is calm,” he told reporters.

Barcelona manager, Xavi, mirrored Deco’s remarks, saying that the team’s mindset and morale are still good. He also agreed with Gundogan that the team was to blame for the Clasico loss.

“The word conformity is not part of Barça’s DNA. We are for excellence. We have not seen Gundo’s words as controversial, we agree with what he said. We lost the Clasico due to our mistakes. There has been no controversy in the dressing room,” he said.

“We have a very healthy and very kind dressing room. The attitude has never failed and I am happy with everyone’s work and willingness. I have never had to criticise their attitude. Maximum pressure, it’s welcome. The team is hungry.

“He (Gundogan) expressed the anger that we all had inside, nothing else. We were all angry. It comes down to culture. Any one of us could have said it, this is cultural. He comes from a different culture compared to ours. If you see Bayern’s defeat the other day, Muller came out and criticised. In the dressing room, there has been no controversy.”

On Saturday night, Gundogan and Barca will try to get back on track against Real Sociedad.