Kevin de Bruyne reveals Man City tactical tweak that brought Champions League victory

Kevin De Bruyne has revealed how a tactical tweak led to the vital goal that gives Manchester City a slender Champions League quarter-final advantage. The Blues midfield star raced onto a pass from substitute Phil Foden to fire them ahead and set up a huge battle in next Wednesday’s second leg.

City had struggled to break down an Atletico side that had retreated into a virtual 5-5-0 formation until the arrival of Foden and fellow subs Jack Grealish and Gabriel Jesus. Guardiola was praised for the triple switch which saw Foden sharpen up the attack, Grealish add a degree of control and Jesus become a focal point for the attack.

But De Bruyne says that a smart switch in his role was a big factor in his goal, as he popped up on the right of the City attack to link up with Foden, asked to play wide on the right: “In the second half I started more on the left midfield and then we changed it a little bit where I played as a number ten so I could just get the spaces,” he said.

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“When Phil turned around I saw a little gap so I just tried to run into it, so that was good. Phil had the ball and I just saw the little space in between the two defenders.

"I just tried to make a run in behind. He found me perfectly and I saw I was alone so I needed to compose myself a little bit and luckily I found the corner because I think (Jan) Oblak is a big ‘keeper.”

De Bruyne added that City had expected it to be tough against an ultra-defensive Atletico set-up: “It was very difficult. They started playing with 5-3-2 so it is very compact, but I think after 20 to 25 minutes they went to almost 5-5.

“There are no spaces. It feels a little bit like handball where you have to go