Ilkay Gundogan's wife has defended her husband's stinging post-match interview following Barcelona's bruising defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League.
Gundogan hit out at his teammates following Barca's 6-4 aggregate defeat to PSG on Tuesday.
Ronald Araujo was shown a straight red card for fouling Bradley Barcola and Joao Cancelo conceded a penalty, which was converted by Kylian Mbappe, who impressed fans during his post-match interview.
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After the match, Gundogan bemoaned his side's showing against PSG in a refreshingly honest interview.
"I didn't see it, if he made a mistake he probably deserved to be sent off," he told CBS Sports.
"In such crucial moments you have to be sure if you have a chance to get the ball. If you don't have a chance, you have to move away. I don't know if he got to the ball.
"It is better to give the striker a chance to confront the goalkeeper. He may miss it, or the goalkeeper may save us, or even concede a goal, because getting a red card at the beginning of the match will finish off your team and finish you off."
Gundogan's interview divided opinion amongst his teammates as some agreed with his post-match sentiment while others took exception to what he said.
Amid reports of dressing room unrest, the star midfielder's wife has jumped to his defence on social media.
Sara Arfaoui, who featured on Amazon Prime's Married to the Game documentary, praised Gundogan's mentality and claimed his take on the game is about improving the squad.
She shared the former Manchester City player's post following last season's treble success, accompanied with the caption: "This man is a working hard guy and his football opinions are about improving and he is giving everything to this team.
"His mentality is a treble mentality."
Gundogan, who joined Barca last summer on a free transfer, could go the season without a major trophy following last season's impressive trophy haul.
The Catalan giants trail Real Madrid by eights in the league and, of course, are no longer in Europe.
Football fans can watch every Champions League and Europa League match live on TNT Sports by signing up to discovery+.
Topics: Football, Ilkay Gundogan, Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain
Nasir Jabbar