Kevin De Bruyne's Return To Etihad Only Lasts A Short Time

Kevin De Bruyne returned to the Etihad Stadium, but only played for a while (Instagram/@officialssscnapoli).

JAKARTA - Kevin De Bruyne's return to the Etihad Stadium, Manchester City headquarters, only lasted briefly on Friday, September 19, 2025, early morning WIB.

The Napoli midfielder was replaced after playing only 26 minutes after the red card received by his teammate, Giovanni Di Lorenzo.

Di Lorenzo was sent off in the 21st minute after a VAR review for dropping Erling Haaland outside the penalty box.

De Bruyne was sacrificed when coach Antonio Conte restructured his team after playing with 10 people.

De Bruyne returned to the Etihad Stadium after leaving the club at the end of last season as a free agent.

He was greeted like a hero by Manchester City supporters and was then greeted with lively applause when he left the field.

De Bruyne's jersey number was raised five minutes later to be replaced by Mathias Olivera.

During his 10 years at Manchester City, De Bruyne helped the club win 16 major trophies, including six Premier League titles and the Champions League.

Manchester City announced in May 2025 that they would set up a statue to honor it outside the stadium, marking its status as one of their greatest players.

The Citizens also put up De Bruyne's mosaics at their academy and named a street on their campus after him.

De Bruyne returned to the pitch at the end of the game to make an honorary lap with former Manchester City teammates and was again greeted with a serenade from supporters.

Meanwhile, Manchester City finally won 2-0 through goals from Jeremy Doku and Erling Haaland - who became the fastest player to score 50 Champions League goals.