Kevin De Bruyne has admitted Manchester City’s erratic recent form has been “disappointing” but the Belgium forward believes there is still an opportunity to end this season with more silverware. Manuel Pellegrini’s side travel to France for Wednesday’s Champions League quarter-final first leg against Paris Saint-Germain as underdogs, despite seeming to have recovered from their latest bout of “City-itis” by thrashing Bournemouth.
De Bruyne’s glittering 55-minute display was the highlight of a performance that showed exactly what they have been missing over the past nine weeks as City’s title challenge has faltered badly. The 24-year-old was a surprise inclusion from the start after tearing knee and ankle ligaments at the end of January. But, looking leaner and fitter than before his injury, De Bruyne showed there are no lingering problems as he starred in an advanced role alongside Sergio Agüero.
His instinctive finish following an immaculate pass from a rejuvenated David Silva doubled City’s lead after Fernando had opened the scoring from a corner, with Agüero and the substitute Aleksandar Kolarov completing the rout. Zlatan Ibrahimovic and co will, however, provide a much stiffer test than a Bournemouth side who appeared to already be on Boscombe beach having already virtually assured their Premier League survival.
But as City prepare for their biggest match in a competition for which they have largely saved their best this season, De Bruyne scratched his head when asked to explain the inconsistencies that have dogged them in his absence. “I’ve got no idea,” he admitted. “I know the team has a lot of quality but this season has been too much up and down, we’ve not been consistent on a good level and that’s the main issue this year as to what’s happened. In the Champions League, maybe it was also difficult in the beginning so afterwards we did well and hopefully we can carry on.”
De Bruyne is too polite to say it of course. But, as well as his compatriot Vincent Kompany’s commanding presence in central defence, what City have really been missing is him. This win was the first on the road in the Premier League since the start of February – the day after Pellegrini announced he would be replaced by Pep Guardiola at the end of the season.
It’s no coincidence that City’s slide out of the title race followed swiftly afterwards and De Bruyne, who scored his sixth goal since joining last August from Wolfsburg for a club record £54m, acknowledged he has had mixed feelings watching his new team-mates struggling. “It’s been difficult and not difficult,” he said. “It’s not nice to watch a game from the sidelines but on the other hand you have to keep it in your head that you cannot help at the moment. It’s always frustrating when you have difficult moments in the season. We know we dropped some points and this was very important to show everybody that we still want to be there and the way we played is very pleasing.”
De Bruyne added: “I tried to prepare myself, train very hard to be fit as quick as possible so I’m happy to be a little bit quicker with the team. Obviously, this went well but you never know what’s going to happen in the next few games. If you miss nine weeks it’s not like you missed a few games. It’s possible that the next game can be a little bit less but I’m trying to maintain my physical level to be as quick as possible on a perfect level.”
Pellegrini admitted his decision to withdraw his playmaker 10 minutes into the second half was a precautionary measure for the trip to Paris, with the Belgian expected to resume his partnership with Agüero in attack. But having seen his former club Chelsea knocked out following a 2-1 first leg away defeat against PSG in the previous round, De Bruyne was not convinced that an away goal will be vital.
“It depends. Everyone maybe has a different view because if you get a 0-0 over there it can also be good,” he said. “I think our team always creates chances, I think we are not a defensive team, so I don’t think that’s the main issue. We’ll see what happens.”
Asked if Pellegrini could end up emulating Bayern Munich’s Jupp Heynckes in 2013, by winning the Champions League before Guardiola arrives in the summer, De Bruyne added: “It’s a tournament, so you never know. If the team plays at its best then we always have a chance. If you want to win it then you have to win against the big teams also.” With him apparently back to his best, they must have a chance.
Man of the match Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City)
