Kevin De Bruyne Man City absence explained as Arsenal and Liverpool eye title race boost
Kevin De Bruyne has been named on Manchester City's starting line-up to face Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-final on Tuesday night.
The Belgian maestro netted two goals and provided an assist in the weekend's win over Crystal Palace, earning high praise from Pep Guardiola who lauded him for single-handedly winning the game for City at Selhurst Park.
Yet, just three days later, the 32 year old found himself out of the starting lineup, with Phil Foden stepping into the number 10 role in Madrid. Despite the surprise move by Guardiola, it has been reported by MEN Sport that De Bruyne is suffering from illness, which led to his placement on the bench for this crucial tie.
Guardiola was given a lift with the return to fitness of Josko Gvardiol, who he had previously labelled as doubtful on Monday evening. Gvardiol was taken off at half-time against Palace as a safety measure due to injury and he didn't participate in training on Monday before the team jetted off to Madrid.
However, he was selected as left-back at the Bernabeu, providing a significant boost to Guardiola's defensive choices.
In another major selection decision, Guardiola chose to stick with goalkeeper Stefan Ortega, who has been in goal for the past five matches, despite Ederson's recovery from injury. Guardiola stated on Saturday that he needed to decide whether to reward Ortega's performance, or gamble on Ederson's lack of match fitness in such a crucial game, and he opted for the former.
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De Bruyne's inclusion on the bench means he is likely to be deemed OK for
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