Thierry Henry believes Kevin De Bruyne has the best footballing brain he's "ever seen" after the Belgian's heroics on Tuesday night.
De Bruyne scored a sublime strike to help Manchester City achieve a 1-1 draw against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu. Pep Guardiola's side are now just one win away from reaching their second-ever Champions League final in pursuit of a maiden European Cup.
De Bruyne, 31, is undoubtedly one of the best players in the Premier League right now, but Henry thinks the midfielder belongs in the gallery of greats. That is high praise considering Henry has worked with the likes of Lionel Messi and Patrick Vieira before.
Henry coached De Bruyne during his two spells as Belgium's assistant manager between 2016 and 2018, and 2021 and 2022. The Arsenal legend was asked about the City midfielder during an appearance on CBS Sports on Tuesday night.
Henry said: "I still think he’s the most important player in this team. I’ve come across a lot of players, played with a lot of players, saw a lot of players, played against some of the greatest. I think Kevin, his brain is the best I’ve ever seen, the way he sees the game.
"Because his brain is in some places, I don’t know what he thinks about sometimes, you look at him and it’s almost like he’s not with us because he’s that good.
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"Sometimes it can be a problem because you’re not on his level, but I think he’s the most clever player I’ve seen in my life. It’s just second to none, the way he thinks. Because I saw him for six years on and off with Belgium, you love the man a bit more.
"Because I saw stuff he did in training and in games. He’s unbelievable. His brain, I’m still thinking about some stuff I’ve seen, he’s on a different planet and it wasn’t his best game tonight, but he delivered."
As well as Messi and Vieira, Henry has worked with the likes of Dennis Bergkamp, Zinedine Zidane, Robert Pires, Gilberto Silva, David Trezeguet, Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Cesc Fabregas, Yaya Toure, Robin van Persie, Samuel Eto'o and Eden Hazard during his career.
Guardiola was full of praise for De Bruyne and Kyle Walker after Tuesday night's game. Walker played a key role in the draw by keeping Vinicius Junior quiet down the left flank, although the Brazilian did score a stunning long-range effort down the middle.
Guardiola was also delighted with Ederson's performance after the goalkeeper denied Karim Benzema with a smart save. "Kevin knows how important he is for us," said the City boss. "He made an incredible performance for many reasons and I’m happy for him.
"In this type of game in this type of competition - semi-finals and finals - you need your best players. Ederson and Kyle Walker were exceptional. In general, everyone was really good."
