Kevin De Bruyne’s return to play can be summarised in one statistic, which will frighten Manchester City’s Premier League title contenders.
Kevin De Bruyne made his long-awaited comeback to play last month after missing five months due to a catastrophic hamstring injury sustained on the first day of Premier League season.
After his recovery, many City supporters were worried that the Belgian midfielder would change, but in recent weeks, he has allayed those fears.
Ever since he started playing again, De Bruyne has made seven appearances, netting one goal and creating seven others.
Despite the fact that the 32-year-old has assisted in four straight Premier League games, it was his Champions League comeback on Tuesday that revealed a statistic that will scare City’s rivals.
In the first leg of their last-16 match, Pep Guardiola’s team defeated FC Copenhagen 3-1 thanks to goals from De Bruyne, who was playing in his first Champions League since he hobbled out of the final in Istanbul last season.
At this point, City is a strong favourite to win the match at the Etihad Stadium next month and go to the quarterfinals for the seventh consecutive year.
De Bruyne has scored goals and provided an assist in two of his seven post-injury games.
Despite missing five months of play, he has accomplished the feat more times this season than Premier League talents Martin Odegaard, Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai, James Maddison, Conor Gallagher, Lucas Paqueta, Kai Havertz, James Ward-Prowse, and Joelinton combined.
With one game remaining, City is presently two points behind leaders Liverpool in the Premier League standings.
Although De Bruyne’s injury gave Arsenal and Liverpool hope to overtake City in the title race, City is on track to win a fourth straight title thanks in large part to the outstanding performances of Phil Foden and Julian Alvarez.
On Saturday, De Bruyne will try to continue his good play when City plays Chelsea.
