BRUSSEL SHOUTS

De Bruyne: I’ve never been loud on the pitch but I’ve got passion to drive this team forward to glory

BY

KEVIN DE BRUYNE insists he will keep doing his talking on the pitch in a bid to drive Manchester City to a Premier League and Champions League double.

Belgium ace De Bruyne produced a man-of-thematch performance to help Pep Guardiola’s men sink Brighton 3-0 on Wednesday night and return to the top of the table.

City lead bitter rivals Liverpool by just a point heading into the final six games of another thrilling season.

And while midfielder De Bruyne admits he is not the most vocal of stars in Guardiola’s line-up, he reckons actions speak louder than words when it comes to landing the biggest trophies. De Bruyne (below, with Guardiola) knows the pressure is building as the season reaches a climax but will focus on just being himself.

“I don’t feel any different from when I first started playing football. This is my playing style,” said De Bruyne.

“I’m maybe not the loudest but I try to play the way I play and I have a lot of passion and drive when I’m in my actions.

“I think I can help drive the team forward and I don’t have to be different in anyway, because this is my best way to give something to the team.” After a goalless first half on Wednesday, Riyad Mahrez and Phil Foden struck within 20 minutes of the restart before Bernando Silva added an 82ndminute third to send City back to the top of the table.

De Bruyne reflected: “I think we played pretty well.

“Brighton played a very good game and it’s difficult to play against them, they go man to man.

“Obviously it’s hard because everybody’s under pressure. We weren’t disturbed by the pressure and in the second half, when you score the two goals, it makes it easier. I think we did okay.”

City host Watford tomorrow before Real Madrid come to the Etihad for the first leg of the Champions League semifinals on Tuesday night.

Conquering Europe remains Guardiola’s Holy Grail but De Bruyne believes City have matured since losing last season’s final to Chelsea in Porto.

Yet he is expecting a huge challenge when it comes to beating the 13time winners Real.

De Bruyne added: “We’ve matured and I think the last two seasons we’ve coped really well.

“But there’s going to be hard moments, because every team has a lot of quality.

“Atletico was the same in the previous quarter-finals and I don’t expect anything different against Madrid, because the quality is there. They’re going to win the Spanish league, so it’s going to be hard for us

again.”