De Bruyne: City are playing their best football ever

KEVIN DE BRUYNE believes Manchester City could be playing their best football since he arrived at the club.

And despite the disappointment of defeat at Paris Saint-germain and a draw at Liverpool, he is confident that the Blues have an extra dimension now within their ranks, which can deliver even more to the champions.

That is a mental strength that City have perhaps lacked in previous visits to Anfield, where the atmosphere and intensity of a partisan Reds crowd often got to them. Not this time. City dominated on Sunday and even when they twice went behind, showed real spirit and quality to hit back in a pulsating game for a 2-2 draw.

Belgium star De Bruyne (above, celebrating scoring City’s second goal at Anfield) said: “There have been performances here in the past where when we were 1-0 behind, it became 2-0, 3-0 really quickly. But I think we found a way to react to that.

“Our direction after their two goals was really good. I didn’t play here last year when we won, but the way we performed here with all the fans in the stadium, in the six to seven years I have been here was by far the best one.

“You know that to come here is a hard task, but I think we did well with that, and the way we reacted we should be really happy with that.”

City sit just two points off the top of the table, despite already visiting four of the clubs who finished in the top seven last term. In the past week, they outclassed Chelsea, arguably outplayed PSG despite losing, and then had the best of a thrilling draw with Liverpool.

That, according to playmaker De Bruyne, is a sign of real intent.

“I can not fault the performance at Anfield,” he said. “We did what we needed to do, and I feel that way about all three performances this week – even though we ended up with a draw, a win and a loss. After the international break we knew we had a really hard month and we have come out of it close to the top of the table, so we are fighting really well.

“The way we have played the three games this week has been important. The scores weren’t always what we wanted them to be, but we controlled the matches most of the time. The way we played, our way, it’s the most important thing.” De Bruyne (scoring at Anfield, left) is not the only City player to take real encouragement from the team’s form. Phil Foden, who was outstanding, knows the Blues are on course to challenge for honours again – although he says the title fight will be exciting with Liverpool also full of quality.

“I feel like it is going to go all the way,” he said. “We know there are a lot of teams in it this year and it is good to see that there is more than one team fighting at the top of the league. “But we will fight until the end, and I was so impressed with our character at Anfield.”