We stopped training after 10 minutes before United game, reveals Kevin De Bruyne

We stopped training after 10 minutes before United game, reveals Kevin De Bruyne

no photo

De Bruyne comments on preparations before United game

|

Getty Images

Kevin De Bruyne has revealed that Manchester City usually trains tactically against their opponents’ game plan but admitted that they only trained for 10 minutes or so since they didn’t know how United would play. The Belgian international orchestrated a 2-0 victory over the Red Devils on Saturday.

Manchester City underwent an away trip to Old Trafford as they faced off against Manchester United in the Manchester derby in the Premier League this past Saturday. City enjoyed a comfortable 2-0 victory over their cross-town rivals as they rebounded from a shock defeat to Crystal Palace the previous week. Eric Bailly had the misfortune of scoring past his own keeper in the 7th minute as City scored the opening goal of the game. Bernardo Silva doubled the lead for the Citizens at the cusp of half-time in the 45th minute as he latched onto a cross and poked the ball past David De Gea.

A pair of goals in the first half were enough for the reigning Premier League champions to secure the win as they held off some early United pressure to see out the match. Questions were asked of United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's failure to deploy a tactical plan to secure a win over their rivals after their embarrassing defeat to Liverpool at Old Trafford. United failed to avoid another humiliating derby loss and De Bruyne has admitted that preparations were at a minimum before they faced United.

“The day before a game we usually train tactically, based on how the opponent plays. But before United, Pep said: 'We don’t know how they are going to play. We shall see'. And we stopped training after 10 minutes or so. Often Pep knows how the opponent is going to play. This time he didn’t know, so he didn’t know what to do. We have done what we always do, but he didn’t know beforehand if they would play with five at the back, or with four, or with a diamond in the middle, or with three up front," the Belgian told the MidMid podcast.

Get updates! Follow us on

Open all