‘I don’t remember’ – De Bruyne opens up on CL final loss

Kevin De Bruyne has opened up on Manchester City’s Champions League final defeat against Chelsea last season.

The Belgium international suffered a head injury in the second half of the match after a nasty collision with Antonio Rudiger.

He was substituted off after fracturing his eye socket and spent the night in hospital with a concussion.

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De Bruyne was doubtful for Belgium’s Euro 2020 campaign as a result. However, he made a comeback at half-time of their second match against Denmark.

The midfielder picked up an ankle injury at the tournament as the Red Devils were knocked out by Italy in the quarter-finals. This injury rounded off a disappointing summer for De Bruyne.

And losing the Champions League final was especially disappointing, despite the fact KDB can’t remember the full match:

“I don’t remember after the incident so there’s not a lot of memories,” he said.

“We always try to maintain a high level, we always want to compete for titles, we did well last season, two semis and a final.

“These games you can lose, the opposition are very good, that night we lost and move on.

“I remember some chances in the first half, after the collision I don’t remember a lot, how I got into the hospital, I remember going back in the morning to the hotel at 10am still with my kit on.

“In sport it happens. It’s not the best thing to happen but you go on with it. get back as best as possible. It took some time, it was a bit painful but I feel much better now and I’m very happy about that.”

When he returned to the team hotel, De Bruyne had a private chat with City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak, who had spoken to the rest of the squad that morning.

“He said he was happy with how I contributed to the team and the year,” recalled the 30-year-old. “He said he’d be back again to fight for the trophy.

“We weren’t in a good mood, I felt strange at the time. It was nice to hear that from the chairman because it was a big blow. It was a positive but short conversation.

“In the Euros I was happy I could come back but the ankle injury happened. There’s nothing I can do, I got tackles and my ligament snapped.”