Manchester City have suffered a considerable blow after Pep Guardiola said Kevin De Bruyne will be “out for a few weeks” because of the hamstring injury he suffered in their 3-0 win at Burnley.
The Belgian was forced off after only 24 minutes at Turf Moor and the problem is a particular concern for City as it is a recurrence of the same one that led to his replacement in the opening half of June’s victorious Champions League final against Internazionale.
“Unfortunately he is injured again,” said Guardiola. “A problem in the same position, he said to me, as in the final of the Champions League. It’s a pity because he had recovered well but now we have lost him for a time so we have to reflect, talk to the doctors, see what happened.
“He has to be relaxed, recover, and come back. He was feeling good and playing good in the first minutes. It depends on the magnitude of the injury but will be a few weeks out. Maybe it was my mistake [to play him] but when he is injured after 15-20 minutes it is not something wrong [with the decision] – when it is after 65 minutes it is the fatigue of the muscle.”
Guardiola added: “He is down. He fought a lot [to be back after] the final. He felt really good and said: ‘I prefer to start and make 50-55 minutes.’ He is disappointed but is strong and will be back.”
Erling Haaland scored twice in the first half against Burnley before Rodri sealed the victory for the champions with a third goal late on. But as the sides walked off at the interval Guardiola was visibly upset with Haaland, pushing a TV camera away as he spoke to the Norway international.
The manager explained this happened because Haaland was unhappy with Bernardo Silva not passing to him as the break neared, preferring to protect the lead. “He wants the ball all the time, the ball to him,” said Guardiola. “But Bernardo was correct not to give him the ball. But it’s absolutely not any problem at all, he scored two goals and I think he is happy.”
Vincent Kompany insisted his Burnley players could take positives from losing to his former side. “This is the worst we’ll be this season, this team’s only going to get stronger,” he said.
The Belgian also called for a change of “mentalities” among his side’s supporters after some booed players for taking the knee before kick-off. “It’s not something new, it’s not something that’s happened for the first time, so of course I can’t be happy with it, I’m not,” he said. “The colour of my skin should make it clear why, but in the end the amount of people who booed is a lot less than it used to be.
“There’s a lot of people who clapped, so I believe in time and working together and these people are part of our family no matter what and we have to change the mentalities.”
