Kevin de Bruyne went off with a nasty looking head injury in the UEFA Champions League final, as the Manchester City and Belgium star was in a bad way.
[ MORE: Three things we learned | Pulisic Watch | Tactical breakdown ]
De Bruyne, 29, was clattered off the ball by Antonio Rudiger in the second half and hit the deck hard.
He didn’t get up for several minutes and City’s medical staff treated him on the pitch, before he was then subbed off.
[ MORE: Full highlights, analysis of PL season ]
The Belgian star was in tears on the sidelines as he couldn’t walk down the tunnel on his own.
De Bruyne has now confirmed he suffered several injuries to his nose and eye socket.
“Just got back from the hospital. My diagnosis is Acute nose bone fracture and left orbital fracture. I feel okay now. Still disappointed about yesterday obviously but we will be back,” De Bruyne said in a statement.
After he suffered the injury Foden and Walker consoled him on the pitch, with huge swelling on his cheek and his left eye socket.
Pep Guardiola also hugged him as he came off, as City’s captain on the day struggled throughout the game and didn’t finish the final on the pitch.
After initially being on the bench, he was then shown in the 80th walking down the tunnel with a medical staff member holding on to him and with a towel around him, as he had looked to be heading to the dressing room for further treatment.
Belgium will be sweating on the fitness of their star man ahead of the European Championships this summer. Belgium boss Roberto Martinez was not happy with the way De Bruyne was tackled by Rudiger and it could leave his plans for the European Championships in tatters.
This update suggests that De Bruyne may be able to play in a protective face mask this summer.
We will have further updates as and when they arrive, as this situation did not look good for City but it seems like KDB will be fit soon.
City were the heavy favorites to win a first-ever European Cup, but Chelsea beat them in the FA Cup and Premier League over the last six weeks and held a psychological edge, and that helped them beat City in the Champions League final too.