Original title: De Bruyne’s return to form
Yangcheng Evening News reporter Liu Yi
In the early morning of December 23, in the 1/8 final of the English League Cup, Manchester City eliminated the defending champion Liverpool 3-2. The midfielder De Bruyne contributed two assists, which was completely different from the De Bruyne in the World Cup. two people.
Only 10 minutes into the game, De Bruyne sent 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 game: “De Bruyne not only had two assists in this game, but also sent many threatening passes. De Bruyne in this game is the same as we watched in the World Cup two or three weeks ago. De Bruyne is totally different, he’s one of the best players in the Premier League, he’s the best in the world in his position.”
Belgium, a traditional strong team, performed poorly in this World Cup this year. They only scored 1 goal in three games and were eliminated in the group stage. At that time, De Bruyne’s game state and mental outlook were very abnormal, giving people a feeling of lack of interest. Belgium is plagued by infighting, and De Bruyne seems dissatisfied with the sluggish captain Eden Hazard continuing to play in the starting lineup. In the third round of the group match against Croatia, Hazard finally became a substitute, but De Bruyne failed to save the team, and Belgium could only draw a goalless draw with Croatia.
In this year’s Golden Globe Awards, De Bruyne ranked third, second only to Benzema and Mane. Unfortunately, his performance in the World Cup was abnormal, and his contribution to the team was almost the same as that of Benzema and Mane who did not participate. Same. But as soon as he returned to Manchester City, and as soon as he returned to the system he was most familiar with, De Bruyne became the best midfielder in active service again. He was like a fish in water under coach Guardiola.