Manchester City lost the talismanic figure of Kevin De Bruyne to injury in the first half of the Champions League final against Inter on Saturday evening.
De Bruyne slumped to his haunches half an hour into the contest. After a short bout of medical treatment, the Belgian tried to carry on but was quickly presented with a loose ball which he fired beyond an offside Jack Grealish.
City's leading assist provider - with an unrivalled 28 across all competitions - had created the best opening of a caging contest while he was on the pitch. As the stitching in Inter's compact rearguard crept marginally apart, De Bruyne threaded a pass for Erling Haaland who had a fierce low effort rebuffed by Andre Onana.
Pep Guardiola was clearly reluctant to remove his star playmaker but eventually had to turn to Phil Foden as his replacement in the 36th minute.
Read the latest Champions League news here
Why Kevin De Bruyne was subbed off in Champions League final
Two years ago, De Bruyne captained City in the Champions League final against Chelsea but couldn't see out the full 90 minutes in that showpiece either. The Belgian lasted an hour in front of a restricted crowd at the Estadio do Dragao before a clash with Antonio Rudiger left De Bruyne with a broken nose and fractured orbital bone.
The cause of De Bruyne's removal in Istanbul was less obvious.
When the 31-year-old reluctantly called for assistance from City's physios, he was spotted stretching out his right leg. He attempted to carry on but his endeavours were short-lived.
Once he was forced off for good in Saturday's final, De Bruyne received a double high-five from Guardiola and joined City's substitutes on the bench. De Bruyne came back out from the half-time interval with ice strapped around his right thigh, hinting at a potential hamstring injury.
With the Premier League title already wrapped up, De Bruyne was left out of the squad for City's final top-flight match of the season. However, that appeared to be an act of rotation as De Bruyne started the FA Cup final against Manchester United last Saturday, teeing up both of Ilkay Gundogan's volleys.
De Bruyne has only been forcibly sidelined for three matches across all competitions this season, missing the first leg of the Champions League last 16 against RB Leipzig through illness in February before a minor foot injury kept him on the bench as April bled into May.
On this week's edition of Talking Transfers, part of the 90min podcast network, Scott Saunders is joined by Toby Cudworth and Graeme Bailey to discuss Ange Postecoglou's appointment at Spurs, Man Utd chasing Rasmus Hojlund, Harry Kane to Real Madrid, Lionel Messi & more!
If you can't see this embed, click here to listen to the podcast!
This article was originally published on 90min as Why Kevin De Bruyne was subbed off in Champions League final.
