Kevin De Bruyne played through a serious injury to help guide Manchester City to the treble.
Simon Bajkowski of Manchester Evening News reported this week that Kevin De Bruyne seriously injured his hamstring during City’s treble winning campaign.
In the second leg of the UEFA Champions League quarter-final against Bayern Munich, De Bruyne injured his hamstring. It wasn’t known until this week how major the injury was.
It was a serious hamstring injury suffered by City’s Belgian playmaker. The usual recovery time from such an injury is 6 weeks. Instead, the Manchester City medical team had a plan to keep De Bruyne on the pitch when City needed him most.
The plan to keep him on the pitch was meticulous. It consisted of missing certain games, daily ultrasounds, strength markers and individual training to keep De Bruyne playing through the injury.
A serious hamstring injury wasn’t going to stop De Bruyne from doing his part to help City claim the treble.
There were games when De Bruyne was the driving force behind City’s drive to claim the treble.
The 4-1 win over Arsenal in April had De Bruyne’s fingerprints all over it. It was King Kev at his best as his 2 goals put Arsenal to the sword at the Etihad.
His equaliser against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu another huge moment in Manchester City’s treble run. The fact he provided those moments while injured make them even more remarkable.
His hamstring would finally give out during the Champions League final against Inter Milan. De Bruyne had taken City as far as his body would allow him.
Kevin De Bruyne’s heroics along the way made the chance at the treble possible. With De Bruyne injured on the bench, his teammates finished the job.
By playing through the pain De Bruyne did his part. The way he played through injury along the way to the historical treble will go down in Manchester City folklore.