De Bruyne is the best player in the world right now

Although he has never won the highest individual titles such as the Golden Ball or FIFA The Best, Kevin de Bruyne is considered by many to be the best player in the world at the present time.

Top 10 highest scorers in UEFA Champion League history: top 1 is almost impossible to break

UEFA Champions League 2024/25: how will the competition format change?

In the match between Copenhagen and Man City in the first leg of the 1/8 round of the Champions League that just took place, De Bruyne played from the start in the familiar guard position.

In the 10th minute of the match, Man City scored the opening goal when Foden sent a convenient pass for De Bruyne to run down the right wing. The Belgian midfielder handled it with class, firing an angled shot that tore open the Copenhagen net. At minute 45+1, Bernardo Silva scored to put Man City up 2-1 and the great passer for Silva was De Bruyne.

Man City easily won against Copenhagen with the excellence of De Bruyne

De Bruyne's impression continued to be shown in the goal that sealed Foden's 3-1 victory. The Belgian star made a perfect pass for the young English talent to easily shoot the ball into the center of the goal.

This was Man City's 11th consecutive victory across all competitions and extended their 21-match unbeaten streak in Europe. In the last 7 matches, they scored at least 3 goals every time, something no one has ever done.

In the Champions League alone, Man City has had 9 consecutive wins. This is the longest winning streak of an English team in Europe's No. 1 club tournament.

In addition, Man City is the 3rd team in history to score at least 3 goals in 4 consecutive away matches in the Champions League. Two teams that achieved similar results were Barcelona in February 2012 and Bayern Munich in February 2000.

Contributing to this performance was De Bruyne, who had his fingerprints on all three goals. Notably, Opta reports that the Belgian midfielder is the 4th player to score at least 10 goals in the Champions League knockout round since the 2019/20 season. Haaland, Benzema and Lewandowski have similar achievements to De Bruyne.

In the last 22 appearances in the Champions League knockout round, De Bruyne contributed 10 goals and 10 assists. He currently has 30 assists in this tournament, more than Thomas Muller, Andres Iniesta and Karim Benzema.

Since returning from injury, De Bruyne has shown brilliant performance and immediately established himself as Man City's No. 1 star. Accordingly, he has contributed to 9 goals (2 goals and 7 assists) in 7 matches since officially returning to the field on January 7, 2024. In these 7 matches, Man City won 7 and scored 20 goals

Many people even believe that De Bruyne is the best player in the world today. "The biggest players appear on the biggest stages," coach Guardiola said when asked about De Bruyne's performance. Meanwhile, Foden praised his senior: "There is no player in the world who passes the ball better than Kevin."

However, De Bruyne personally appears quite humble. “I'm feeling fine at the moment,” he said. “I'm just trying to play good football and enjoy myself. After missing five months due to injury, I'm happy to help the team win matches."

Injuries and bad luck have prevented De Bruyne from winning the highest individual titles such as the Golden Ball or FIFA The Best. But for many people, he is still the best player in the world today and one of the greatest stars in football history.