The midfielder became the highest scoring German in Premier League history in our 2-0 win over Burnley at Turf Moor, which also saw City reclaim top spot in the process.
Guardiola’s men lead Liverpool in the race for the title by a single point, with the two sides set to meet in a Premier League showdown and FA Cup semi-final in the coming weeks.
Adding to those crucial encounters is the small matter of a two-legged Champions League quarter-final against Atletico Madrid as City continue our pursuit of domestic and European silverware.
And while Gundogan believes we are perfectly equipped to deal with the demands of the fixture schedule, the midfielder has stressed the importance of maintaining our current levels of effort and performance across the run-in.
“Every month and every week we need to try to be in the best possible shape to try to train as good as possible,” the German said.
“I think these are the main points and to obviously be ready and try to keep the confidence as high as possible.
“I think we did quite well in the last couple of weeks and obviously with the international break that we had it was very important to start the first game after that break with a victory.
“Now, as Pep (Guardiola) said, it is game by game because every game is a final now.
“We all play football for these types of games, and we have had it in the last few years and every single year that we came into this period where we know that every game is a big one.
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“The next two or three weeks are very decisive, all of the games are decisive now to be honest.
“We cannot expect [Liverpool] to drop any points. Obviously next week we have a chance in a direct duel against them in our home stadium and to try to beat them and open up the gap a little bit more.
“We play as good and as successful as possible and we know that we need to win all of our remaining games.”
Liverpool’s 2-0 win over Watford in Saturday’s early kick-off meant City had to claim all three points to regain our lead at the Premier League summit.
Guardiola’s men were more than up to the challenge, and Gundogan has called for his teammates to use the added pressure of the title race to our advantage.
He reflected: “I guess you have to make [pressure] a good thing. You have to use it and try to transfer it to motivation, confidence and to be hungry to bounce back.
“We are not allowed to drop any points at this point of the season.
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“[Liverpool] will make our lives as tough as possible but we need to prepare, we need to be ready, we have the experience, and we have to show it in the last few weeks.”
Our next encounter sees City welcome Atletico Madrid to the Etihad Stadium for the first leg of our Champions League quarter-final clash.
After reaching the final of last year’s competition, Gundogan believes Guardiola’s men are more than capable of once again going the distance in 2021/22.
The midfielder also described Champions League glory as one of his and the team’s top priorities this season.
“That is the objective of every professional footballer I guess (to win the Champions League). It is obviously ours as well,” he explained.
“Having the experience of last season’s Champions League final that we unfortunately lost but we know how it feels to be there.
“We know that there is enough quality for us to try to get there again.
“We need to take that responsibility and try to make the best out of it.”
