Charlies Eccleshare of The Athletic has given his verdict on why Kevin De Bryune isn’t quite in contention for the Ballon d’Or at the moment.
Speaking to The Totally Football Show, Eccleshare highlighted that the Belgian doesn’t make a consistent impact in European fixtures when he plays for Man City.
He stated, “De Bruyne was interesting because obviously, he’s at an already incredibly elevated level. But I think part of the reason he’s not generally in the kind of Ballon d’Or conversation is because when it comes to these big Champions League knockout ties, he doesn’t influence games and you look at someone like Modric, who just grabs games, dominates and even Vinicius Jr, so decisive in these big matches.
“And after about an hour [Of Real Madrid vs Man City], my brother was saying to me is De Bruyne a bit symptomatic of City? In the sense of absolutely dominant in the Premier League. But when it comes to these massive Champions League nights, do they impose themselves in quite the same way? And obviously then, seven minutes later, he scored that absolutely brilliant goal, but I think he does.
“That’s what he needs to do if he is to get in that conversation of the really, really, elite players, best players in the world.”
The goal that he scored on Tuesday against Los Blancos really showed the quality that he possesses. City were in desperate need of an equaliser and he stepped up with a superb strike.
Winning the Champions League and playing a big part in that would certainly elevate the 31-year-old’s already incredibly established reputation. It would prove to many that he can in fact deliver on the big stage in a massive tournament.
He certainly did that in the semi-final’s first leg, but Man City still have work to do when they host Real Madrid at the Etihad next week in the return fixture.
By the end of the 2022/23 campaign, City could have their hands on three trophies should they win the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League.
