De Bruyne Fractured Nose, Eye Socket in UCL Final with Chelsea

Manchester City midfielder Kevin de Bruyne suffered a fractured nose and eye socket in the Champions League final defeat against Chelsea.

The 29-year-old was replaced in the 60th minute by Gabriel Jesus after a collision with Antonio Rudiger.

“I feel okay now. Still disappointed about yesterday obviously but we will be back,” he tweeted.

De Bruyne was named in the Belgium squad for Euro 2020, with his country’s first game on June 12 against Russia.

There are no indications yet whether the midfielder will be fit for the match in St Petersburg or if his injuries threaten his participation in the rest of the tournament.

City lost the final in Porto against Chelseathanks to Kai Havertz’s 42nd-minute goal.

Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel was at pains to stress this Champions League final was about so much more than his tactical and personal battle with Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola – and yet the story of this showpiece will have both cast as its central characters.

Tuchel, a loser with Paris St-Germain against Bayern Munich in last season’s final, made no mistake with his second chance as he prepared and plotted to perfection to produce a finely tuned, intensely committed Chelsea side fully deserving the victory that saw them crowned champions of Europefor a second time.

In contrast, Guardiola chose to select a starting 11 he had never picked before in his time as City manager, gambling on an array of attacking talent to compensate for his decision not to use either of his outstanding midfield anchors Fernandinho or Rodri.