De Bruyne key to breaking Man City’s CL complex

“Win everything,” said Kevin De Bruyne when asked of his ambitions for Manchester City after signing a new four-year contract to reportedly become the Premier League’s highest paid player last week. With less than two months of the season to play, City are still on course for a historic quadruple of Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup and League Cup.

Just breaking through the barrier of the Champions League quarter-finals would be a landmark for Pep Guardiola as he tries to reach the last four for the first time in five years in Manchester tonight. City travel to Borussia Dortmund holding a slender 2-1 lead and bearing plenty of scars from quarter-final ties over the past three years. “Different year, same stuff,” was how a disappointed De Bruyne summed up a 3-1 defeat by Lyon in Lisbon last season. Defensive mistakes, missed chances and VAR controversy also combined to deny Guardiola’s men as they bowed out to Liverpool and Tottenham in contrasting fashion in 2018 and 2019.

Despite the explosive talent of Erling Braut Haaland, a Dortmund side sitting fifth in the Bundesliga should not pose a problem for the runaway Premier League leaders. But De Bruyne has lived through too many City horror shows in Europe’s premier club competition to take anything for granted.

The Champions League is the one trophy to have so far eluded the Belgian since he arrived in England in 2015. A determination to end City’s wait to conquer Europe was key to both the player and club’s motivations for agreeing a new contract worth a reported £20 million ($27 million) a year.