Manchester City were eliminated from the Champions League at the semi-final stage by Real Madrid on Wednesday night, suffering a 3-1 defeat at the Santiago Bernabeu after being 5-3 up on aggregate early on.
City suffered a collapse late in the game and the defence started to look vulnerable, but it wasn’t just the backline that failed to shine. Kevin De Bruyne underperformed on the night and was withdrawn by Pep Guardiola in the second half.
The 30-year-old had some good moments on the ball, setting up a chance for Bernardo Silva and teeing up Gabriel Jesus to fire wide, but he performed well below expectations in Madrid.
Mike McGrath of the Telegraph gave De Bruyne a player rating of 6/10 and said he ‘showed glimpses’ of quality. Sid Lowe of the Guardian gave the Belgian international a player rating of 8/10 and claimed he was City’s best player. Lowe was surprised he was withdrawn too.
Stuart Brennan of the Manchester Evening News gave him a player rating of 6/10 and said he ‘looked off the pace’. Jack Gaughan of the Daily Mail opted for a player rating of 6/10 and said it was ‘not really his night’. Gaughan also noted that De Bruyne was ‘frustrated’ at times.
Against Real, the Belgian played for 71 minutes, had 52 touches, completed 84.4% of his 32 passes, created three chances, had two shots with 50% hitting the target, whipped in two crosses, made one tackle and had three successful dribbles.
In other news, journalists say hard-working Man City player ‘ran the show’ v Real Madrid