Kevin De Bruyne insists his career will not be defined by whether he wins the UEFA Champions League but accepts Manchester City’s legacy would be strengthened by victory in Istanbul.
The 31-year-old cemented his legacy as one of the Premier League’s best midfielders during his time at Manchester City, winning five league titles and two PFA Players’ Player of the Year awards.
2022/23 has been one of KDB’s best in his career so far, with the midfielder notching an astonishing 24 assists in all competitions as City won the league, the FA Cup and reached the UEFA Champions League final. It is that aforementioned Champions League final that many believe will define this trophy-laden Manchester City era.
The Citizens have come within a whisker of winning the competition in the past, notably losing the final to Chelsea in a game in which De Bruyne was forced off with a head injury, and are heavy favorites going into this season’s epic clash against Inter in Istanbul.
But with a historic treble and a first European winners’ medal within touching distance, De Bruyne told the press he did not believe the game would define his legacy: “Will it help? Yes. But one 90 minutes does not define a career.
“I’ve played about 700 games. One 90 minutes out of 700 doesn’t define my career. But obviously it helps. We performed really well. We’ve been to so many quarter-finals, semi-finals and two finals. We’ve been there most of the time.
“I want to win the Champions League and I want to win the treble. We should enjoy next week and hopefully put in the best performance we can.”
Should Man City beat Inter, they would become only the second English club to complete the treble, with Man Utd the only other club to pull off the incredible feat.
