Pep Guardiola shakes Manchester City for Kevin De Bruyne

What if we are soon at the end of a glorious chapter for Manchester City. After two months of competition, the English champion is once again in the fight for the title. 2nd in the Premier League, just one point behind Liverpool, the Mancunian club is also regularly cited among the favorites for this Champions League in a new format. Pep Guardiola’s men finally won the game a year and a half ago and hope to repeat the feat. Nothing is impossible for them except that here they are at a possible end of cycle between a coach at the end of his contract, and a Kevin De Bruyne injured for a while, and often at the center of rumors.

At 24 hours of the 3rd day of this C1, Guardiola even gave a little layer on the 33-year-old Belgian. Unavailable for a month, the midfielder is not ready to return to the field according to his coach, even though his leg flexor muscle injury seemed to be on the verge of resolving. “We are fine, except Rodri (cruciate knee ligament) and Oscar (Bobb, broken leg), as you know. The others train and improve. Some are not yet fully fit, like Kevin.» This last information rather surprised the audience in front of which the Catalan found himself.

De Bruyne still absent for a while

When a reporter asked if the playmaster was going to be absent “still some time”the technician did not hesitate to answer in the affirmative, while wanting to be reassuring. “It’s not a big problem. He doesn’t feel completely well and Kevin is no longer 22 years old. He must be in great shape for his football. Problem is, he has only played 25% of the possible minutes since the start of the season, only participating in 6 matches in all competitions (1 goal and 1 assist) when his club has already played twice as many. De Bruyne even withdrew during the last international break, a month after causing a stir in the selection.

“ He doesn’t feel comfortable yet, so he can’t express his incredible potential to the fullest. He’s training a little better, but he doesn’t feel ready. He told me he wasn’t feeling well, so I told him to take his time », continues Guardiola at a press conference, deploring in passing that he was missing “four key players” Right now. Without De Bruyne, Manchester City did not do everything well, obtaining draws in the league against Arsenal and Newcastle for example, and dominating Wolverthampton with difficulty. This period also revives the Belgian’s desire to leave, at the end of his contract in June, just like his trainer. What if the sequel was already being written?