Kevin De Bruyne has revealed he was forced to leave the Champions League final early due to a snapped hamstring.
Manchester City are champions of Europe after defeating Inter Milan 1-0 in Istanbul to claim an emphatic treble. Rodri's sublime second half strike was the difference in a tightly contested game.
The triumph mends City's broken hearts after they were defeated in their first final appearance two years ago by Chelsea. Blues fans could be forgiven for experiencing a severe case of Deja-vu during the first half as, just like in Porto, De Bruyne picked up an injury.
The brilliant Belgian was forced off the field in 2021 after a nasty collision with Antonio Rudiger and he had to go off in the first half once again in Istanbul. De Bruyne has been dealing with a hamstring injury for at least a month and after managing to play a good chunk of last week's FA Cup final win, the wear and tear finally caught up with him.
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"It's been a hard two months for me I've had a lot of issues with my hamstring and it snapped," De Bruyne told BT Sport after the game. "It is what it is. I did everything to be okay and it's a shame because I felt really good in the first half an hour, I know I was doing well but the team is good enough and we won."
At least there was one significant difference from the last City Champions League final as De Bruyne's personal disappointment was alleviated by the Blues winning the elusive trophy.
He added: "It's amazing. We've been working so hard for this and to be a part of this, the history for the club and for everything we did as a team I think we fully deserved it. We haven't lost in the Champions League this year so... it wasn't the best game but finals are always difficult and now it's time to celebrate.
"Obviously, it's huge because the amount of games you have to play and the level you have to be consistent at is high. It's amazing, we should enjoy it."
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