Kevin De Bruyne hobbled off in the first half at Turf Moor (Picture: Getty)
Pep Guardiola says Kevin De Bruyne will be ‘out for a while’ after injuring his hamstring during Manchester City’s opening Premier League victory against Burnley.
City’s captain left the pitch midway through the first half and was replaced by summer signing Mateo Kovacic.
While the setback did not derail Manchester City, who kick-started their title defence with a routine 3-0 win, the Premier League champions could now be without De Bruyne for some time.
De Bruyne was forced off with a similar issue in last season’s Champions League final but Man City were still able to beat Inter Milan and clinch a historic treble.
‘Unfortunately he is injured again,’ Guardiola said. ‘He said to me it’s a problem in the same position as the Champions League.
‘He recovered well but now we’ve lost him for a time, he will be out for a while. We have to reflect and talk to the doctors and the physios. Now he has to be relaxed, recover and come back. He was feeling really good before.’
On Man City’s performance against promoted Burnley, Guardiola added: ‘We started well. We found a goal, we struggled a bit after. We gave away balls, our pass created problems but after a while we played much, much better.
The Manchester City captain suffered another hamstring injury
‘The first game against a newly promoted will always be difficult. They give everything but we were fortunate to find a goal so quick. We gave chance to them and we have to improve.’
It took Premier League Golden Boot holder Erling Haaland less than four minutes to open his account for the 2023-24 season and the Norwegian doubled Manchester City’s lead before half-time.
Rodri added a third with 15 minutes remaining as Man City made a confident start to their title defence and inflicted a deflating defeat on Burnley, who amassed 101 points in the Championship last season.
‘Tonight was never going to be the night to judge Burnley,’ ex-England defender Gary Neville said on Sky Sports. ‘Man City were comfortable in the second half, saw the game out without too much fuss. That’s why they’re champions.’
Haaland, meanwhile, insisted he was more than satisfied with his and Man City’s performance as the new Premier League season got underway.
‘Good to start again after two months without football,’ the prolific striker said. ‘And good to start with a win of course.
‘I think we were quite controlled, for the first game of the season, I think we did quite well. We are still kind of in the ‘starting phase’ of this marathon, but it is about not stressing, relaxing and focusing on ourselves.’
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An early blow for the Premier League champions.