Antonio Conte issues Kevin De Bruyne apology after brutal Man City substitution

Antonio Conte claimed subbing Kevin De Bruyne after 26 minutes "was the only thing I could do" as he saw his Napoli side lose. The Belgian returned to Manchester City on Thursday but had an evening to forget with his manager issuing an apology for his participation in the game ending early.

De Bruyne bought down the curtain on his decade with the Premier League side last season and has since joined Serie A champions Napoli as a free agent in the summer. He returned to his former club just months after his exit, but his night was cut short.

The 34-year-old saw Erling Haaland and Jeremy Doku find the net, but much of his viewing came from from the subs bench. Napoli were reduced to ten men in the 21st minute when Giovanni Di Lorenzo was given a straight red card for a foul on Haaland - and Conte chose to sacrifice his playmaker.

READ MORE: Kevin de Bruyne hauled OFF as VAR intervenes in incident that left Erling Haaland fuming

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Conte clearly made the decision through gritted teeth but claimed the personnel and the system left him with little choice but to haul off De Bruyne. He said: "We were all left with a bitter taste in our mouths.

"It’s disappointing, we prepared for the match the way we played it in the first 20 minutes and the sending off changed it. I don’t want to say whether it was right or wrong, but for 20 minutes I saw a great attitude and I think City would have had a hard time against us.

"It’s already difficult to get out of here unscathed, but if you’re down to 10 men it becomes impossible.

"Sometimes the devil takes a turn, there’s a cruel twist of fate. Last year we didn’t have a sending off, today in the Champions League we did. It was the only thing I could do…

"I felt sorry for the boy, who we robbed of the satisfaction of playing against his old club. But I also robbed myself of the chance to count on him.

"In the first 20 minutes I had the feeling that we had prepared the match in the right way, going for the high goal. I’m sorry, these are games where a sending off ruins them and you can’t do the exact right thing."

De Bruyne has scored two times in his four games for Napoli, including one on his debut with the Italian side beginning the season well domestically. Facing City was seen as their most challenging European clash with many tipping them to advance.

The Belgian left Manchester as arguably one of the greatest ever players to don the City shirt but no new contract was issued and Pep Guardiola has since rejigged his squad.

De Bruyne was part of the side that claimed Champions League glory back in 2023.

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