LONDON: Two years ago, former Newcastle United manager Steve Bruce interrupted Kevin De Bruyne’s post-match interview after he had inspired Manchester City’s 2-0 FA Cup quarter-final win at St. James’ Park — and joked the midfielder would soon be joining the Magpies.
Newcastle host the Premier League champions again on Sunday, now in a position to attract top players following the takeover by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.
But, having been instrumental in their four Premier League titles in the past five seasons and pursuit of a first Champions League success, it is hard to see the brilliant Belgian leaving City anytime soon. And maybe he never will.
While the Abu Dhabi-owned club have undergone a squad evolution this summer with four key personnel from their trophy-laden era having departed, including former captain Fernandinho and Raheem Sterling, De Bruyne enters an eighth season as their current longest-serving player.
Having extended his contract until 2025 — when he will be 34 and have spent 10 years at City since he signed from Wolfsburg for $65 million — he admits he could end his playing career at the club.
“It could be,” he told Arab News exclusively. “I signed my contract until 2025 and my thinking is that I will probably do that contract — and after we will see what happens.
“It changes all the time, football doesn’t it? I’m starting my eighth season here now and that’s a long time, you see a lot of people come and go. Everyone gets older and everyone gets changed some time. Fortunately, I don’t have to go yet, so I’m OK. I’m happy and I’m still having fun.”
With a skillset that entwines exquisite assists and glorious goals, De Bruyne certainly has that joie de vivre on the pitch.
Yet, despite now being widely lauded as the world’s best in his position and named both the English PFA Players’ Player of the Year and Premier League Player of the Season twice in the last three years, he is reluctant to revel in the accolades and adulation.
When De Bruyne does finish, there may well be a statue in his honor at the Etihad, standing proudly alongside other heroes, such as compatriot Vincent Kompany, Spaniard David Silva, and City’s record scorer Sergio Aguero.
He said: “I honestly don’t care. I hope whenever I leave that people look at all the good times and enjoyed the football that I played — and that’s more important than having a statue. I try to be the best version I can be and try to be consistent. I’m at the age now where it’s not really about progressing in many aspects but trying to be the best player I can be every week.
“It’s not like when I was 20 and you want to develop a lot more. I see everything differently now and just want to do whatever I need to win games.
“The ambition is to win — that’s what pushes me to be the best I can be. If the team wins and plays good and I can do the same, that’s what I want to do.”
This is indicative of De Bruyne’s humility and relaxed approach to awards or gushing praise from his peers.
“It just shows the consistency. It’s all about trying to have fun and do a good job, and when people decide about awards or how good you are, they decide, and I accept. You just want to be the best version of what you can be, and the way I look at that situation is other people decide about these things.
“As a player, you reflect on what you have done in your whole career maybe later. At the moment I don’t have the time to think about that, but I’m happy you know and that’s one of the main things. To be happy with what you do, with my family, with my kids and, if you enjoy all that, then that makes it even better.”
With a goal and two assists in his side’s opening two victories, De Bruyne and City have started the season in style and now bid for a sixth successive league win against Newcastle after scoring 20 goals in the other five.
Having pipped Liverpool to the title by a point on the final day last season with a dramatic 3-2 win over Aston Villa — coming back from 2-0 down with just 15 minutes left — they are now chasing a third successive league title too.
Only Manchester United have achieved this in the Premier League era, from 1999-2001 and then 2007-09.
“If we manage that, it would be something nice,” said De Bruyne. “It’s hard to compare teams. It’s a different era, different players, and different teams.
“But I think you understand as a team how hard it is to push yourselves to these limits when you do what we have done.
“People take it maybe for granted that we win so many games — and they think it’s normal. But it’s really not that easy to do what both teams, City and Liverpool, have done — to get so many points and so many wins.
“We work incredibly hard and, especially with the league getting tougher every year and so many teams with a lot of qualities, that makes it even harder.”
City, though, have proved under Pep Guardiola in recent seasons that they relish a challenge. So too does De Bruyne, who feels fit and fired up. “Summer was good, and I started now in good shape, so let’s hope it continues. But I never put any targets on myself. I don’t think it makes sense.
“You can play good games without having any assists or goals. I know people talk about it, and it’s important, but it’s not that important for me.
“When you are close to the records, you try, but it’s not something at the beginning of the season where you think I want to get more than that.”
That said, many expect De Bruyne to break the record of 20 assists in a season he holds jointly with Thierry Henry, especially with Erling Haaland now leading City’s attack following his $60 million move from Borussia Dortmund.
The Norwegian opened his goal account with two at West Ham but had just eight touches, including an assist for Ilkay Gundogan’s goal, in last weekend’s 4-0 win over Bournemouth.
De Bruyne has no doubt City will adapt to Haaland’s strengths and that the striker will flourish, saying he sees similarities with his Belgian teammate Romelu Lukaku.
“He’s a little bit like Rom, but everyone is still so unique, so it’s all good,” he added.
“Playing with different players is a little bit different at the start, but we have played with strikers before. We have had Kun (Aguero), and I played with Wilfried Bony before and with Rom in the national team. So we know what to do with strikers and without.”
Manchester City enjoying ‘best version’ of Kevin De Bruyne
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Manchester City enjoying ‘best version’ of Kevin De Bruyne
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- With a goal and two assists in his team’s opening two victories, the Belgian has started the new Premier League season in style as City visit Newcastle on Sunday
- When De Bruyne does finish, there may well be a statue in his honor at the Etihad, standing proudly alongside other heroes
Olympic organizing team unveiled for 2030 Winter Games in French Alps
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- A bid hastily pulled together in 2023 was approved by the International Olympic Committee only last July — in Paris on the eve of a hugely successful Summer Game
- The project is now led by Edgar Grospiron, a freestyle skiing gold medalist in 1992 when France last hosted the Winter Games and a late hire in recent days as president of the organizing committee
- The French Alps organizing committee has a prudent operational budget of €2 billion ($2.1 billion)
LYON, France: Just five years before the opening ceremony, French organizers of the 2030 Winter Games put on a united front Tuesday to unveil the team given the tightest schedule of any modern Olympics.
The 2030 French Alps Olympics must tie together snow and sliding venues in the mountains with skating and curling arenas among the palm trees on the Riviera coastal city Nice.
A bid hastily pulled together in 2023 was approved by the International Olympic Committee only last July — in Paris on the eve of a hugely successful Summer Games — and even then with a special exemption to wait several months for guarantees from the national government.
The project is now led by Edgar Grospiron, a freestyle skiing gold medalist in 1992 when France last hosted the Winter Games and a late hire in recent days as president of the organizing committee.
“What’s important now is that from now we organize it, we deliver it,” Grospiron said at a slick launch event at the stadium of soccer club Lyon, aiming for a Winter Games that is “impeccable and irreproachable.”
Grospiron spoke after a parade of national and regional political figures, including sports minister Marie Barsacq and Michel Barnier, who as prime minister last October signed off the government’s support.
Layers of lawmakers’ support has been vital to a project that still needs an ice arena built in Nice and a venue for speed skating, which could end up in Italy or the Netherlands.
The popular success and expertise gained at the Paris Olympics was stressed as a foundation for the Winter Games which used to be given seven years by the IOC to organize.
“We are not starting from zero,” the IOC’s executive director of Olympic Games, Christophe Dubi, told The Associated Press. “We had a great shortcut and it’s called Paris 2024. Many of those things we can cut and paste.”
The IOC started 2023 with no clear candidate and a shrinking pool of options to host a cost-effective and sustainable Winter Games in 2030. A Swedish project centered on Stockholm seemed favored before a French bid emerged out of the IOC’s strong pre-Paris relations with President Emmanuel Macron and national Olympic officials.
France’s win was confirmed on the same day in Paris as the 2034 Winter Games were awarded to Salt Lake City with four extra years to prepare. Its organizing team was unveiled in Utah last week.
“We are the cradle of Olympism,” said David Lappartient, leader of the French Olympic body and a candidate in the IOC presidential election next month. France already hosted three Summer Games in Paris and three previous Winter Games: Chamonix in 1924, Grenoble in 1968 and Albertville in 1992 that Barnier helped organize.
The French Alps organizing committee has a prudent operational budget of €2 billion ($2.1 billion) and speakers Tuesday stressed the need for a project that was financially sober and in moderation.
A key theme also was adapting to climate change and delivering an Olympics and subsequent Paralympic Winter Games that are sustainable.
“I would never pretend that the games want to save the world,” Grospiron said, “but I think we can contribute to changing how it moves forward.”
Rising to environmental challenges was stressed by the head of the Provence-Alpes-Cote d’Azur region that includes Nice and Marseille. Renaud Muselier cautioned that in dealing with the reality of climate change “defeatism has the same effect as skepticism.”
Bayern score late to see off Celtic in Champions League
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- Bayern will face either their fellow German rivals Bayer Leverkusen or Spanish giants Atletico Madrid in the last 16
MUNICH, Germany: Bayern Munich secured their place in the last 16 of the Champions League with a 94th minute strike by Alphonso Davies on Tuesday to secure a 1-1 draw on the night and a 3-2 aggregate win.
Bayern will face either their fellow German rivals Bayer Leverkusen or Spanish giants Atletico Madrid in the last 16.
Celtic had led 1-0 since the 63rd minute and the Scottish side had been on the verge of taking the German giants to extra time and pulling off their first ever win in Germany.
But with Harry Kane off injured and time running out, Davies stepped up as Bayern’s savior, tapping in after Celtic keeper Kasper Schmeichel had kept out Leon Goretzka’s header.
Bayern went into this game 2-1 up from last week’s first leg at Celtic Park and seeking to stretch their unbeaten run to seven games in all competitions.
Bayern dominated possession in the first half but Celtic were more dangerous with at least three clear cut chances to score before the break.
Former Bayern Munich second-team player, Nicolas Kuehn beat Manuel Neuer but Raphael Guerreiro cleared off the line.
Moments later, Alistair Johnston flashed a dangerous ball across the Bayern goal. With Neuer stranded the ball flew just beyond Daizen Maeda.
Then Maeda missed a golden opportunity to put Celtic ahead. When Dayot Upamecano was forced into a stray pass, Kuehn led the surge forward and fed Maeda, who blazed over with Kuehn and Jota in support.
Bayern dominated the ball on a freezing night but suffered with a lack of quality in attack.
Serge Gnabry was wasteful while Kane sometimes cut an isolated figure, starved of service.
The England captain’s best chance saw him rattling the bar with a snapshot after Josip Stanisic picked him out from the right.
That would be Kane’s final action. The striker was withdrawn at half time, feeling the effects of an injury picked up against Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday.
Bayern upped the pressure after the break and fashioned a clear chance when Goretzka went clean through. Schmeichel, however, made a crucial stop to keep Celtic in the game.
Soon after, Celtic were in front. Maeda seized on a loose pass by Josip Stanisic and helped it on toward Kuehn. Min-Jae Kim reached the ball first but could not clear and Kuehn was able to take a touch and find the bottom corner.
It was a goal that shocked the Allianz Arena and threatened Bayern’s record of 20 European home games unbeaten. Celtic were delivering on coach Brendan Rodgers’ pre-match battle cry to show bravery.
Bayern sought an equalizer but Vincent Kompany’s side were reduced to long-range shots, with Schmeichel pulling off saves from Joshua Kimmich, Michael Olize and substitute Leroy Sane.
Celtic were moments away from inflicting Bayern’s first defeat by a Scottish team and taking the tie into extra-time but the game had a sting in the tail. Olize delivered a pinpoint cross that was met by Goretzka.
Schmeichel saved but Davies scrambled the rebound home off his shin to send Bayern through to the last 16.
Ancelotti downplays Guardiola’s suggestion Man City have 1 percent chance of eliminating Madrid in playoffs
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- “He doesn’t really think that,” Ancelotti said on Tuesday in a pre-match news conference
- Guardiola later said he lied a bit when he talked about the 1 percent, and that he knows City’s chances of reversing the first-leg defeat are higher than that
MADRID: Coach Carlo Ancelotti is not buying Manchester City rival Pep Guardiola’s suggestion that his own side have only a 1 percent chance of eliminating Real Madrid in the Champions League playoffs on Wednesday.
Madrid rallied late to win the first leg 3-2 last week in England to seize control ahead of their home match at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.
After City’s 4-0 win over Newcastle in the Premier League on Saturday, Guardiola said his team would arrive in the Spanish capital with a “1 percent” chance of going through to the round of 16.
“He doesn’t really think that,” Ancelotti said on Tuesday in a pre-match news conference. “Tomorrow I’ll ask him before the match if he really thinks that they only have a 1 percent chance. He thinks he has more than that, just as we don’t think that we have only a 99 percent chance. We know that we have an advantage, and we have to make the most of it.”
Guardiola later said he lied a bit when he talked about the 1 percent, and that he knows City’s chances of reversing the first-leg defeat are higher than that.
“You have to play an almost perfect game,” he said. “The result was not so good, we usually come into the second leg with a better result, so it is not the perfect situation. We have to attack, we have to score goals. We want to win, so let’s see if we can adjust some things that didn’t work in the first leg.”
Ancelotti said he was not one of those coaches who liked to fully downplay his team’s advantage.
“It’s foolish to say that we will prepare for the game as if we were tied 0-0,” he said. “Nobody will believe you because it’s a fact that we scored three goals and City two. You can’t change that. We have to try to play the same way as we played a week ago, but without forgetting that we have an advantage.”
Guardiola has never failed in 16 seasons of coaching — four at Barcelona, three at Bayern and nine in Manchester — to take his team to the last 16. The 2012-13 season was the last time City did not play at that stage.
City have been struggling recently, though, and Guardiola said that has to be taken into consideration.
“This season the reality is we have been miles, miles away,” he said. “The results have been poor.”
Madrid got the better of City in the quarterfinals last year, and with a 3-1 win in extra time in the semifinals in 2022. Each time Ancelotti’s team went on to win the title, extending the club’s record to 15 Champions League trophies.
Ancelotti can count on central defender Antonio Rüdiger, who has recovered from the muscle injury that has kept him out in recent weeks. Against City last week, Ancelotti fielded an improvised back line who played together for the first time.
Ferland Mendy, youngster Raúl Asencio and midfielders Aurélien Tchouaméni and Federico Valverde played at the back in England.
Ancelotti said Rüdiger can start on Wednesday, though he didn’t say whether the central defender would replace Tchouaméni or the 22-year-old Asencio.
It is the fourth consecutive season in which the teams are facing each other in the Champions League, with City prevailing in the semifinals two seasons ago on their way to winning the European title for the first time.
Feyenoord knock out 10-man AC Milan to reach Champions League last 16
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- Julian Carranza thumped home the winning header in the 73rd minute
- Argentine attacker Carranza struck for Feyenoord shortly after coming on as substitute
MILAN: Feyenoord reached the last 16 of the Champions League on Tuesday after a 1-1 draw at 10-man AC Milan which took them past the seven-time kings of Europe 2-1 on aggregate.
Julian Carranza thumped home the winning header in the 73rd minute at a frigid San Siro, canceling out Santiago Gimenez’s first-minute opener for Milan and sending the Dutch through to meet either Inter Milan or Arsenal.
Argentine attacker Carranza struck for Feyenoord shortly after coming on as substitute as the away side pushed to reach the next round, while Milan struggled following Theo Hernandez’s sending off early in the second half.
Already on a booking for a needless foul on Anis Hadj-Moussa just before half-time, Hernandez was ruled by referee Szymon Marciniak to have dived in the penalty box when under pressure from Givairo Read.
The France full-back was dismissed, leaving Milan on the back foot after having dominated up to that point.
Hernandez’s sending off and Carranza’s tie-winning header ruined what looked to be Gimenez’s night when he nodded home the opener against his old team after just 36 seconds.
Mexico forward Gimenez has already scored three times for Milan since signing from Feyenoord during the winter transfer window but his sixth goal in the Champions League this season was also his last.
Sergio Conceicao’s Milan are by no means assured of a spot in next year’s tournament as they sit seventh in Serie A, five points off the top four with a game in hand.
Medvedev edges Khachanov in windy Qatar Open
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- Medvedev, who won the tournament in 2023, scored his first victory over a top-30 player in 2025
- In match of long rallies, Medvedev did not carve out a break point until the 12th game of the second set
DOHA: World No.6 Daniil Medvedev eliminated compatriot and defending champion Karen Khachanov 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 in the second round of the ATP Qatar Open on Tuesday.
Medvedev, who won the tournament in 2023, scored his first victory over a top-30 player in 2025.
Medvedev, the former world No.1, has not won a tournament since the Rome Masters in spring 2023. He was knocked out in the second round of this year’s Australian Open by teenage American Learner Tien.
In match of long rallies, Medvedev did not carve out a break point until the 12th game of the second set, by which time he was a set down. He took his chance and then went on attack in the third set to win in two hours 30 minutes.
A third Russian former champion, Andrey Rublev, the fifth seed, beat Alexander Bublik 6-3, 6-4.
Alex de Minaur celebrated his birthday by beating Russian Roman Safiullin 6-1, 7-5, even though the Australian did not enjoy the weather.
“They’re tough days, these ones,” said De Minaur. “It’s cold, it’s windy, you probably don’t want to get out of bed. But once you step on court, you have to do everything you can to win. Whether it’s ugly or pretty tennis, you just put the ball in the court, and that’s what I did today.”
“Out went any sort of tactics you had for the match and it was all about surviving more than anything.”
In the evening matches, Novak Djokovic was making his comeback against Matteo Berrettini after his Australian-Open semifinal injury.
Earlier in the day, Djokovic said that Andy Murray would continue as his coach “indefinitely.”
“I expressed my desire to continue the collaboration with him so I am really glad he did accept,” said Djokovic.