Manchester City arrived in Jeddah, where the semi-final of the World Club Championship against Japanese Urawa awaits them tomorrow, and in the expedition that landed in Saudi Arabia, there was one familiar face, the one without whom the champion of England, as the results are showing, cannot do – Kevin De Bruyne. Four months since he suffered a serious muscle tear in the first round of the Premier League against Burnley, the Belgian football wizard is training with the ball again in a group atmosphere. And since his injury on August 12, the 32-year-old has already missed 29 games in all competitions. Objectively, the Citizens missed him the most in the Premier League derbies.Kevin De Bruyne is back in Manchester City training 😤He’s only played 23 minutes this season after being injured on the opening day. pic.twitter.com/TwMiuWxwIC— B/R Football (@brfootball) December 18, 2023 There are few who do not associate City’s scoring slump in the last month or so with the absence of the most creative player. England’s champion easily cleaned the weaker competition in the domestic championship, but the derbies with the members of the Big Six exposed the fact that City, without the Belgian, is a team that hides the ball from rivals and closes games incomparably more ineffectively. Out of five such games in the first part of the season, Guardiola’s team won only one, Manchester United at Old Trafford (3:0). Previously, they lost to Arsenal by playing an unrecognizable second half (1:0), and later in three consecutive games, they failed to defeat nor Chelsea, nor Liverpool, nor Tottenham.Obi Mikel reveals a massive fight beween Eto’o and De BruyneEven with the injured De Bruyne, City, on paper, has the most powerful playing staff in the Premier League and is certainly the best coach, but after the 17th round, it was only enough for the fourth position and five points less than the first-placed Arsenal. For the sake of comparison, at the same moment last season, Guardiola’s men were two points behind Arsenal after 17 matches. Then, unlike the current 34, they had 41 points. Then they had a goal difference of 50:18, and their current goal ratio is 40:20. It is an understatement to say that City seriously complicated their path to a fourth consecutive English league title with just one win from the previous six league games. Last year, too, there were thirty obstacles on that track that made their life difficult, but when this spring, at the beginning of April, before the last ten rounds, the chase after Arsenal began, it was Kevin De Bruyne who took his team and led him to another title. And that’s why the return of De Bruyne’s smile means the return of smiles on the faces of Manchester City fans. Try to convince one of them that when the architect comes back, he won’t immediately plan and start sketching his way back to the top.##NAJAVA_MECA_7744751##
