Man City injury crisis is creating an impossible Kevin De Bruyne dilemma - and there's no end in sight

Kevin De Bruyne's first words on the pitch at Wembley, having just helped Manchester City into the FA Cup final, were telling. "I'm tired," he said.

Maybe it was the sprint and celebratory jump to the City fans from the half-way line that wore him out. Or maybe it was the 202 minutes he had just played in three days in two huge games.

Pep Guardiola and Bernardo Silva blasted the FA for making City play twice in under three days. Guardiola said he just wanted to protect his players. Bernardo insisted he wouldn't have complained had City lost, but questioned the motivations of the FA and simply said "it's not acceptable."

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Amid Bernardo's extraordinary comments - clearly fueled by anger as he let his emotions out in the Wembley mixed zone - was a nod to De Bruyne's condition. "I played 90 minutes today. Me, Kevin, Phil (Foden). I wasn't fine at all. I wasn't fine," he said.

De Bruyne, clearly, wasn't fine. And he hasn't been for some time. Speaking after the cup semi-final, De Bruyne admitted his performances have been inconsistent at best as a result of his injury problems.

“It’s been a different year. It’s been a weird period – coming back after such a long injury. I can’t lie," he said. "I know people expect to see you on the pitch and to be the same as before, but it takes time to get to your best level. Some performances have been really good, some have been a bit less, but I give everything that I need to get to this level so I’m happy.”

At Wembley, De Bruyne's brain was ahead of his feet for the third time in the last couple of weeks, but