Kevin De Bruyne has revealed Pep Guardiola’s message to Manchester City players for their Premier League title run-in ahead of their final game against West Ham.
A win against Tottenham in their penultimate game saw Man City take a two-point lead over Arsenal heading into the final game of the season on Sunday.
It is a situation Man City are familiar with and they are aiming for a fourth successive title – and Guardiola had a simple message for his players.
“Drop points and we’re not going to win – that’s basically it,” De Bruyne revealed exclusively to Sky Sports News.
“We know that, we’ve been in this situation before. Now with Arsenal, both teams must think the same.
“I don’t even call it a run-in, we haven’t lost since Villa [at the start of December], Arsenal lost maybe one game in the last 17.
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“These are impressive numbers from both of us so we know if we don’t win against West Ham, Arsenal will probably win the league and vice versa. That’s the only way to look at it.”
Victory on Sunday – where Man City host West Ham, live on Sky Sports – would mark a sixth Premier League title for De Bruyne in almost nine years.
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Man City’s Kevin De Bruyne played down their celebrations following their victory at Tottenham on Tuesday
“I’m excited, it’s a privilege to be in this situation,” he added. “It shows the hard work this team does to get into this situation.
“I know everybody always says ‘we have to win the league’, but to do this constantly, is hard. It’s not like other teams are giving it [away], we have to fight for it, work really hard and to be here at this stage again means that it’s really competitive.
“It’s a nice moment to be in, a bit stressful as well, but we’ll take it.
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“I feel like the hunger is there. After winning a lot, at the beginning of the season when you don’t have a lot of rest, it’s tougher to get back into that rhythm, but one way or another, we find the hunger again to go.
“The team is humble enough to work hard for the success we have and I don’t know how to put it any other way than to work for it and try to do it again.”
During Tuesday’s win against Tottenham, De Bruyne assisted Erling Haaland’s opening goal, with the two building a potent partnership since the latter’s arrival last summer.
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Erling Haaland tapped home from Kevin De Bruyne’s assist to give Man City lead
Discussing the goal at Spurs, De Bruyne said: “Before I got the pass, I tried to look behind and understand the situation. Once I got that ball, there was only one place to really put it. I tried to give the best ball possible and Erling is there to do the rest.
“At this level, everybody is easy to play with. Everyone has their own qualities. As an out-and-out striker in the box, he’s the best I’ve played with.
“He just knows how to get a little yard of space and that’s probably the most difficult thing to do in a box crowded with four defenders, but he seems to find a way to be there.”
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Highlights from Tottenham’s match against Manchester City in the Premier League.
And Haaland is not the only player that received praise from De Bruyne. Phil Foden, who recently won the FWA Men’s Footballer of the Year award, was also called “unbelievable” by his team-mate.
“He’s probably been the best player in the league or one of them,” De Bruyne added. “I was out for five or six months so I couldn’t help the team, but he took over at that time.
“He’s been really good, but he’s been good in the years before also. Numbers-wise, he’s up there.
“Two years ago when we lost the [Champions League] final against Chelsea, he played all those games too, but sometimes it goes up and down a bit with the players who play, but he took it up another level and helped us win a lot of games.”
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