Kevin De Bruyne is enjoying the afterglow of Manchester City’s “unbelievable” treble-winning season rather than focusing on the future, especially after putting a stop-start season behind him in the FA Cup final.
History was made at Wembley as Pep Guardiola’s swashbuckling side followed up Premier League and Carabao Cup glory by completing the domestic treble.
No men’s side in English football history had previously achieved the feat, while only Bury in 1903 could match Saturday’s 6-0 winning scoreline in an FA Cup final.
Absolute joy! 😀— Manchester City (@ManCity) May 18, 2019
Doubles from Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus in the rout of Watford were complemented by efforts by David Silva and De Bruyne, who came on in the 55th minute but did enough to be named man of the match.
“It has been an unbelievable season to win three titles,” the Belgian substitute said. “It says enough.
“To compare generations is very difficult. We are happy with what we have done this season and we are happy to be in the conversation but we should just enjoy the moment because it doesn’t happen very often.”
De Bruyne, left, with Alexander Zinchenko, acknowledges Manchester City’s achievements this season (Nick Potts/PA)
De Bruyne says it is “already an honour” to be considered one of the best teams in English football history but cares little for talk of going one better by winning next season’s Champions League.
Get FourFourTwo Newsletter
The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week.
“It is not about topping it, it is about being consistent and trying to achieve the best,” he said shortly after collecting his medal.
“We are not starting the season saying we want to win three titles or four titles, we want to play the way we play and do our best.
“You need a bit of luck of the draw, form and not too many injuries, there are a lot of things going on in a season.
”It is not all about the end product, it is about the journey and you appreciate it even more.”
De Bruyne scores his side’s third goal (Nick Potts/PA)
De Bruyne’s personal journey made his man-of-the-match display in Saturday’s final all the sweeter.
Laid low for long periods of the season through injury, the Belgian came off the City bench to end the campaign strongly, scoring one goal and setting up another.
He added: “It does (mean a lot) because I wanted to end in a good way. It has been a stop-start season for me, and it has been difficult at times.
“I wanted to show the people I am still the same player, I just had some bad luck this season. Now everyone knows I am the same and go into the summer in the right way.
“I have been playing for 10, 11 years, I am not a young player anymore.
De Bruyne has been unlucky with injuries this season (Martin RIckett/PA)
“It has been one of these seasons where I have had some bad luck with two injuries.
“Afterwards my body couldn’t really cope with the number of games and I just have to accept it.
“In the end I played 32 games and that is still a lot.”
Thank you for reading 5 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access
FourFourTwo was launched in 1994 on the back of a World Cup that England hadn’t even qualified for. It was an act of madness… but it somehow worked out. Our mission is to offer our intelligent, international audience access to the game’s biggest names, insightful analysis... and a bit of a giggle. We unashamedly love this game and we hope that our coverage reflects that.
