Original title: De Bruyne’s return to form
Liu Yi, reporter of the Yangcheng Evening News
Early in the morning of December 23, in the round of 16 of the English League Cup, Manchester City knocked out the defending champion Liverpool 3: 2. Midfielder De Bruyne contributed two assists, which was completely different from De Bruyne in the world Cup two people.
Just 10 minutes into the game, De Bruyne sent in a well-placed cross and Harland opened the scoring for Manchester City. In the 58th minute De Bruyne crossed again and Dutch defender Ake scored the winning goal for Manchester City. Liverpool star Carragher said after the match: “De Bruyne not only had two assists in this match, but also sent in a lot of threatening passes. De Bruyne in this match is the same as we saw in the World Cup two or three weeks ago. De Bruyne is completely different, he is one of the best players in the Premier League, he is the best in the world in his role.”
Belgium, a traditionally strong team, performed poorly in this World Cup this year: they scored only 1 goal in three games and were eliminated in the group stage. At that time, De Bruyne’s game status and mental outlook were very abnormal, giving people a feeling of lack of interest. Belgium are plagued by internal struggles and De Bruyne seems dissatisfied with sluggish captain Eden Hazard who continues to play in the starting lineup. In the third round group match against Croatia, Hazard finally became a substitute, but De Bruyne could not save the team and Belgium only managed a goalless draw with Croatia.
At this year’s Golden Globes, De Bruyne finished third, second only to Benzema and Mane, unfortunately his performance at the World Cup was an outlier and his contribution to the team was almost equal to Benzema and Mane who have not attended the same. But as soon as he returned to Manchester City, and as soon as he returned to the system he knew best, De Bruyne became the best midfielder on active duty again, he was like a fish in water under manager Guardiola.
