Having just supplied Erling Haaland with two goals in the first Premier League match of the season, Kevin De Bruyne allowed himself a smile when asked if he could get to a point where he could find his new teammate 100 per cent of the time.
Part of it was the swift U-turn following a week of Haaland being questioned in the wake of the Community Shield, yet there was also the reality check that the fantasy visions of the world’s best assister behind the world’s best forward did not guarantee perfection. Like planets in the night sky, the pair would not always align to shine together.
That has been evident during the individual and collective difficulties each has faced this season. These must be placed In context given their respective hauls, but as late as February TV pundits were claiming City were better without Haaland and Pep Guardiola has acknowledged a significant change in De Bruyne.
