ISTANBUL — Manchester City playmaker Kevin De Bruyne had to be substituted with an injury during the first half of the Champions League final against Inter Milan, making it the second time in three seasons he’s had to come off early in the biggest club game in soccer.
De Bruyne came off after 35 minutes when the score was 0-0. He was replaced by Phil Foden.
The Belgium star sat on the ground after 30 minutes, appearing to have hurt his right thigh muscle or hamstring. He had a brief medical assessment but continued playing for four more minutes until signaling that he had to stop.
The injury seemed to happen when De Bruyne had a right-foot shot on the Inter Milan goal, his first of the game, which was easily saved.
Two years ago, De Bruyne had to come off after an hour when he sustained a serious facial injury in a final that Man City lost 1-0 to Chelsea.
De Bruyne suffered a fractured nose and an orbital fracture to his left eye socket in a collision with the shoulder of Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger.
Then, De Bruyne left the field in tears.
This time he walked quickly off the field to take his place in the team dugout. As De Bruyne walked toward the touchline, Man City coach Pep Guardiola came on to the pitch to greet his player. Guardiola patted the dejected De Bruyne’s lowered head.
from Sportsnet.ca https://ift.tt/mEVcICa
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