Man City's De Bruyne battled hamstring injury in treble charge

LONDON: Kevin De Bruyne has revealed his Champions League final hamstring injury had plagued him through the final weeks of Manchester City's charge to treble glory.

De Bruyne was forced to come off after 35 minutes of City's 1-0 win against Inter Milan in the Champions League showpiece on Saturday (Jun 10).

City's treble-clinching triumph in Istanbul was one match too many for De Bruyne at the end of gruelling personal campaign.

He knew he had been at risk of aggravating the problem for several weeks, but opted to play on as City powered to Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League silverware.

The Belgium midfielder now faces a fight to be fit in time for the start of next season after reportedly snapping the hamstring.

"I give everything for my team and the people in the club know that. I feel proud that I've been able to do what I did," De Bruyne said.

"It's a shame that it went the way it did for me here, but we go away winning the Champions League so there's nothing bad towards it.

"I felt all right this week, but I've been told for two months it was a risk but, you know, you take it.

"I did what I had to do. Obviously, I missed some games, but the games like Arsenal, Bayern and Madrid I managed to do it.

"I had some personal things happen with my family on top of that and I managed that, but, here, the hamstring just snapped."

De Bruyne also failed to complete the 2021 Champions League final against Chelsea after sustaining a serious facial injury.

On that occasion, City were beaten 1-0, but this time Pep Guardiola's men triumphed without De Bruyne to end their long wait to win Europe's elite club competition for the first time.

"I don't look at football that way. It is what it is," De Bruyne said.

"I felt the team was able