DE BRUYNE: WE ONLY PLAY ONE WAY – TO WIN!
Sep 2009 Nov 2009 Apr 2010 Apr 2010 Nov 2010 Apr 2011 Apr 2011 Apr 2011 Apr 2011 Aug 2011 Inter 0 Barcelona 0 Barcelona 2 Inter 0 Inter 3 Barcelona 1 Barcelona 1 Inter 0 Barcelona 5 Madrid 0 Madrid 1 Barcelona 1 Barcelona 0 Madrid 1 Madrid 0 Barcelona 2 Barcelona 1 Madrid 1 Madrid 2 Barcelona 2 CL GS CL GS CL SF CL SF La Liga La Liga Sp Cup final CL SF CL SF Sp Super Cup Aug 2011 Dec 2011 Jan 2012 Jan 2012 Apr 2012 Aug 2013 Sep 2016 Oct 2016 Apr 2017 Barcelona 3 Madrid 2 Madrid 1 Barcelona 3 Madrid 1 Barcelona 2 Barcelona 2 Madrid 2 Barcelona 1 Madrid 2 Munich 2 Madrid 2 United 1 City 2 United 1 City 0 City 0 United 0 Sp Super Cup La Liga Sp Cup Sp Cup La Liga Super Cup PL EFL Cup PL KEVIN DE BRUYNE claims Pep Guardiola would never “do a Jose” by parking the bus in Sunday’s derby at Old Trafford. De Bruyne says Manchester City will not sit back and play on the counter, like Mourinho does in big games for Manchester United. The Belgium star insists City will stick to their attacking principles and go for the win to strike a significant blow in the title race. “We’ll play the same there,” said De Bruyne (below). “We never change. We try to do the things we’re good at. That gives us the best chance to win. “We want to do what we always do – try to play our style, put them under pressure and see where it goes. We want to try to dominate the ball, so we just look at ourselves. “Hopefully, we can win the game, that would be massive. But it’s not always about winning or losing – it’s about playing the same way we always do and giving our all. “So far, that’s seen us win games, so that’s good.” De Bruyne, 26, knows City have a huge opportunity, and would open up an 11-point advantage if they win. The playmaker (with boss Guardiola, above) says this would give them an imposing four-game cushion over Mourinho’s men.
“I’d prefer to be 11 points ahead than five or eight because it’s better,” he said. “It would mean we would almost have a four-game advantage.
“It’s a good gap, but doesn’t mean anything. Football goes very quick. It’s a busy two months when things can change.
“If you lose two games out of three, and they win everything, they are there.
“It goes up and down and, at the moment, we are on an up. We need to keep focused and continue that.”
City are determined not to be rattled by any United mind games and De Bruyne shrugged off Paul Pogba’s claim he hopes they suffer injuries before the clash.
“I don’t care,” he said dismissively. “He can say whatever he wants. We just have to be focused on whatever we’re doing.
“I don’t want anyone to get injured. It’s a competition, you want to play against the best teams and best players.”
City’s late win over West Ham was their 20th in a row and equalled the Premier League record of 13 straight victories.
But De Bruyne insists their record-winning streak will mean nothing if they finish the season empty-handed.
“Yes, it’s an achievement, but it doesn’t matter if you don’t win anything,” he added. “Nobody will care about it then.
“Are you going to say, if we don’t win anything at the end of the season, you are going to talk about the 20 wins we have now?
“It’s phenomenal, but we want to win in the end.”