WE’VE GOT THE MAGIC FORMULA
SAYS KEVIN DE BRUYNE
KEVIN de Bruyne admitted opposing teams are figuring out how to counter- act Manchester City’s command of games — but insisted his side have found new ways to win.
That perspective will have been music to the ears of his manager, Pep Guardiola, sitting beside him in Essen’s Philharmonic Hall last night. Guardiola — wary of unrealistic expectations — shook his head when the word ‘Quadruple’ surfaced before tonight’s Champions League first leg away to Schalke.
Those emotions are prevalent after City were knocked out at this stage, the last 16, in his first ‘failed’ campaign before the quarter-final capitulation at Liverpool last year.
De Bruyne believes the need to adapt — given that teams are becoming wise to their charms — is actually helping in a pursuit of more trophies.
‘We’re still firing on all fronts, you know,’ he said. ‘ Other teams figure out what we do a little bit better. The way we play is always going to be the same with Pep, we’re not going to change. Everyone knows that. We have our main guidelines as to what we always do but try to adapt and do different things. We’ll try something else if spaces open.
‘The goal is not to win the four competitions. It is to win every game and progress further. On Sunday we can win the Carabao Cup but to win all four is nearly impossible.
‘The standards we’re setting are very high. Perhaps not in the league but maybe we’ll win more titles. If we win three titles it’ll be better than last year.’
Whether Schalke have the ability to pose problems at the Veltins-Arena tonight is open to debate. They are 14th in the Bundesliga.
SCHALKE (4-2-3-1): Fahrmann; Caligiuri, Sane, Nastasic, Oczipka; McKennie, Rudy; Serdar, Bentaleb, Konoplyanka; Kutucu. MANCHESTER CITY (4-3-3): Ederson; Walker, Otamendi, Laporte, Zinchenko; De Bruyne, Fernandinho, Gundogan; B Silva, Aguero, Sterling. CITY will today add Sichuan Jiuniu FC, of China’s League Two, to their global portfolio — the seventh club to join City Football Group.