Gundogan not only showed his versatility by playing in the deeper lying anchor role in midfield usually occupied by Rodrigo, he also demonstrated his quality by bagging a brace to earn three valuable points in the 2-1 over Leeds United.
Guardiola praised ‘clever and competitive’ Gundogan after the victory as he reminisced about the 2018/19 campaign where, like Saturday, he also impressed in the defensive midfield position in the absence of the injured Fernandinho.
WATCH: Extended highlights: City 2-1 Leeds United
He said: “I remember one season when we won the second Premier League when Fernandinho was injured for a long time and he played as holding midfielder in games like against Burnley away with the long balls, second balls and… wow… he played.
“I said I had the feeling that without him we couldn’t win the Premier League.
MATCH REPORT | CITY 2-1 LEEDS UNITED
“He’s so intelligent Gundo, so clever and competitive.
“Under pressure he handles it without a problem.
“He’s one of the best players I ever trained in my career in terms of the whole package.
“He’s top, top class.”
WATCH: Guardiola praises squad ‘mindset’ during season run-in
Rodrigo’s absence from the starting line-up was one of seven changes to the team sheet for the Leeds United game this weekend.
The likes of Ruben Dias, Kyle Walker, Jack Grealish, John Stones and Bernardo Silva also missed out on the first XI.
But Guardiola was quick to reveal that it was rest not rotation that forced his hand when he selected his side for the clash with Sam Allardyce’s men.
He continued: “I want to be honest with you, I didn’t rotate the team because of Real Madrid.
“I rotated because I felt some players asked me that they are so tired.
“And the people there tell me these players are so tired. That’s why I did it.
“I take the Premier League so, so seriously. In October, November, December you can drop points but now if you drop points the damage is huge.
“I would be naive to prioritise Real Madrid. We know we have to perform well and we are going to try to do the first leg as best as possible to try to do a good job.
“Normally they [tired players] don’t come to me - they go to people close to me. And they start to say ‘Does Pep think I should play this game?’ or something like that. And I get it, it’s normal. There are a lot, a lot of games.
PICTURE SPECIAL | CITY 2-1 LEEDS UNITED
“It’s not just the physicality it’s also here [points to his head].
“I saw Eddy [Ederson] tired [before] the previous game against West Ham - really tired, his decisions were not good. That’s why today was good.
“We had a lot of guys who haven’t played recently who played really well and they helped us and it’s going to happen.
“Between Real Madrid we have Goodison [Park] and then [after] Chelsea here and the last two games away at Brighton and Brentford.”
