DEBRUYNE DE PASS MASTER
Who has more assists than Messi abd Rinaldo?
HAVING done his best to steal the show from Sergio Aguero, it was no surprise that Kevin De Bruyne also tried to steal the match ball from his team- mate at the end of another ruthless display by Manchester City.
As supporting roles go, it was just one more masterclass from the mercurial Belgian who has lit up this Premier League season more than any other.
Aguero’s four goals trumped De Bruyne’s three assists, no doubt about it, but that shouldn’t take anything away from the midfielder’s latest achievement or remarkable levels of consistency.
Since making his debut for Werder Bremen on loan from Chelsea in the summer of 2012, De Bruyne has completed a total of 77 assists — more than any player in Europe’s top five leagues, including Lionel Messi on 76.
As City return to Champions League action in Basle tomorrow night, it was put to manager Pep Guardiola that De Bruyne must now be a rival to serial recipients Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo for the Ballon d’Or.
‘No doubt,’ came the reply. ‘It’s not one game, it’s the whole season playing that way every three days. The way he played, it’s difficult to find one in Europe.’
Guardiola’s only stipulation is that City must progress in the Champions League as far as Barcelona and Real Madrid to give De Bruyne the platform to showcase his talents alongside the best in the world. ‘ He knows and everyone knows, to be there you have to win titles, and titles and titles — especially one (the Champions League),’ added the City boss.
‘You have to be there in the latter stages. Without the latter stages, you will not be nominated.’
The man himself was typically relaxed about the prospect of being recognised as the greatest player on the planet. De Bruyne seems as effortless off the pitch as he is on it.
‘I do everything to win titles with the team. What happens after is an extra,’ he said in response to Guardiola’s comments.
‘I’m very pleased with the way everything is going for me. I’m playing this way because the team is playing this way. It makes it easier for me and them. At the end, if you get an individual honour it is beautiful.’
De Bruyne’s first two assists for Raheem Sterling and Aguero were supplied with a majestic stroke of his right foot. The third played in Aguero to score again before the Argentine completed the set with a sublime dink over Kasper Schmeichel and a thunderous fourth off the underside of the bar.
It was the 12th hat- trick of a wonderful City career for Aguero, who had to reclaim the ball from a mischievous De Bruyne at the end, and the third time he has scored four or more goals in one game.
‘I have already seen the game against Newcastle when he scored five goals in 20 minutes,’ said De Bruyne. ‘If he is on it, he is probably the best for me. There is nothing more you can say.’
All Aguero’s goals came in the second half after Jamie Vardy’s strike sent Leicester in level at the interval.
On a day of individual feats, it’s worth noting that the England striker became the first man in Premier League history to score against City, Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham in the same season.
It all rendered the appearance of Riyad Mahrez at the Etihad rather irrelevant just 10 days after his proposed move from Leicester to City fell through before the transfer window closed.
The Algeria star was met with applause from both sets of fans when he came on as a second-half substitute to play for the first time since then, having witnessed from the bench just what he is missing.
It has been a fraught period and one that Leicester boss Claude Puel wants to put behind him regardless of what happens to Mahrez in the summer.
‘It was important he came back quickly,’ said Puel. ‘It was a difficult situation to manage. Sometimes