Kevin De Bruyne and Pep Guardiola had a short but animated discussion on the touchline after the midfielder suffered a muscle injury in Manchester City’s Champions League final against Inter.
The 31-year-old Belgian, who was forced off the pitch after 60 minutes in the Cityzen’s Champions League final loss to Chelsea back in 2021, had to be replaced by Phil Foden after seemingly suffering a right flexor issue in the 36th minute of the clash with Inter at the Ataturk Stadium in Istanbul.
The injury is a frustrating blow for De Bruyne and Manchester City, but will come as an unexpected surprise for Inter, who are in their first Champions League final since their victory over Bayern Munich in 2010.
De Bruyne and Guardiola had a quick discussion on the touchline after the Belgian initially went down on the pitch. Mediaset reporter Alessio Conti revealed that the Spanish coach asked the midfielder if he was sure about continuing during this talk, and the player said yes before it quickly became apparent that he couldn’t continue.