‘Robbed’—Antonio Conte Apologises to Kevin De Bruyne Over Man City Reunion

The midfielder’s return to the Etihad lasted just over 25 minutes.

Kevin De Bruyne was hauled off after just 26 minutes. / Nigel French/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images

Antonio Conte has apologised to Kevin De Bruyne after substituting him just 26 minutes into this week’s reunion with former club Manchester City.

The league phase draw for the 2025–26 Champions League threw out a tantalising trip to the Etihad Stadium for Napoli, only months after De Bruyne was released by City following a decade of service that had seen the Belgian become a bona fide club legend.

But rather than prove a point to City after ruthlessly not being offered a new contract, De Bruyne found himself sacrificed by Conte due to the early red card shown to teammate Giovanni Di Lorenzo. In a bid to plug the defensive gap, De Bruyne was replaced with full back Mathías Olivera.

City eventually won 2–0 after Erling Haaland broke the deadlock in the second half with his landmark 50th Champions League goal—the fastest ever player to reach that milestone in the competition.

De Bruyne’s ex-teammates made sure he was well received by City fans. / Ryan Pierse/Getty Images

“We were all left with a bitter taste in our mouths,” Conte reflected in a chat with reporters.

“It’s disappointing, we prepared for the match the way we played it in the first 20 minutes and the sending off changed it. I don’t want to say whether it was right or wrong, but for 20 minutes I saw a great attitude and I think City would have had a hard time against us.

“Sometimes the devil takes a turn, there’s a cruel twist of fate. Last year we didn’t have a sending off.

“[Substituting De Bruyne] was the only thing I could do. I felt sorry for the boy, who we robbed of the satisfaction of playing against his old club. But I also robbed myself of the chance to count on him. I’m sorry, these are games where a sending off ruins them and you can’t do the exact right thing.”

34-year-old De Bruyne had made a flying start to his Napoli career, starting all three games in Serie A and scoring twice to help the reigning champions begin their title defence strongly.

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