Kevin De Bruyne Picks Up From Where He Left Off in Comfortable Man City Win

Despite the vast empty swathes of seats at the Etihad Stadium, there was almost an audible groan as those granted access to the cavernous arena saw the fourth official's board flicker alight with the number 17 in red.

Kevin De Bruyne's spellbinding display was brought to a premature end in the 70th minute after lighting up the opening night of post-lockdown Premier League football. De Bruyne casually strode about the pitch, nonchalantly dictating the game as though he was fresh from a competitive match just last week, rather than one 101 days ago.

The smattering of applause from the City bench, scattered journalists in the press box and a roaming Jamie Carragher was hardly a fitting reception for De Bruyne, although Pep Guardiola was emphatically concise in his assessment of the Belgian's display: "He was marvellous."

But perhaps the most flattering demonstration of De Bruyne's talent came from the stark contrast with the night's other leading protagonist: Arsenal's David Luiz.

While their impact was certainly at different ends of the spectrum of success, they were both entwined at the heart of the evenings events. Before the half-time whistle, David Luiz managed to be at fault for City's opener - failing to clear a De Bruyne pass - give away a penalty (which the Belgian scored) and get sent off.

That spot kick took De Bruyne to nine goals and, as his pass to Raheem Sterling bounced off David Luiz's thigh, his assist tally remains 16 for the Premier League season - a statistic the midfielder took to social media to offer a raised virtual eyebrow at.

David Luiz probably won't be questioning the veracity of the statistical quirk his own performance produced as he gave away his fourth penalty of the season. This quartet of calamities equals the Premier League record sees Luiz join the likes of the lauded 'talents' of Gary Caldwell, Ibrahima Sonko and Luc Nijholt.

As the heavens opened, adding the elements to a growing list of obstacles facing the players - who were returning to competitive action following just three weeks of socially distanced training sessions, De Bruyne effortlessly walked between the raindrops.

Under Guardiola, the 28-year-old has all but mastered the, as De Bruyne calls it, 'free eight' role in the right-hand channel, equally adept at threading the needle or drifting out to the touchline and sending the ball on an unerring, mesmerising arc only he can find.

Some, perhaps the few optimists among the Arsenal faithful, thought that City may treat these final Premier League games as a more high-profile preseason in preparation for the Champions League mini-tournament coming up in August.

In reality, Guardiola's side were hardly forced to raise their game to a pace much greater than the tempo of a meaningless tie played out in the sweltering heat of Singapore, and De Bruyne's magisterial display overshadowed some (understandably) sloppy play from both sides coming into this sprint finish from a standing start.

But, with Bayern Munich claiming bundles of points and plaudits and as Lionel Messi continues to find the net at an unrelenting rate on the continent, Manchester City will need to hit top form to stand a chance of claiming Europe's most prestigious prize this summer.

To hit those heights, De Bruyne's teammates will have to quickly reach the standard their Belgian colleague set on Wednesday night as this might be City's last shot at European glory for some time - and possibly their last chance to achieve that goal with De Bruyne on their roster.

Manchester City have lodged their appeal against UEFA's ban in response to the club's alleged breach of Financial Fair Play rules, the results of which should be known by the first half of July, but as things stand, the club will be without Champions League football for the next two seasons.

If this decision is upheld, De Bruyne's talents won't be seen again on the continental stage until he is 31. Early in May De Bruyne admitted that he may be forced to leave City if the severity of the ban remains unchanged.

The club's last outing in the competition was an engrossing and deserved 2-1 win against Real Madrid in the first leg of their round of 16 tie. De Bruyne teed up City's first that night and slotted in their second with a coolly taken penalty (sound familiar?).

With David Silva's time in south Manchester drawing ever closer to its conclusion, De Bruyne is on his way to becoming Manchester City's most important player, if he isn't already. He was at his bewitching best against Arsenal and will need to keep up those standards to steer his side to a glorious conclusion, in what may be his last campaign.