Kevin De Bruyne's Best Moments of the 2019/20 Season
By Will Day
Look, we get it alright, Jordan Henderson was really good last season. His leadership, character, passion all contributed to Liverpool's resounding title win. But come on, let's not pretend this means he had a better individual year than Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne.
After being overlooked in the Football Writers' Association Awards, losing out to the Liverpool captain, De Bruyne finally got his due for his incredible season on Tuesday evening, as he was crowned PFA Player of the Year.
With 13 goals and a record-equalling 20 assists, the Man City man was far and away the best player in the league last season.
Let's take a look at his standout moments from last season.
1. Two Assists Against Tottenham Hotspur 17/08/19
In just the second game of the 2019/20 season, De Bruyne set the benchmark for his performances to come over the campaign.
The Belgian provided two assists so inch-perfect that even your Sunday League centre-forward, still struggling from the night before, would have buried both chances created with ease. His second assist, a pin-point low drive across the face of goal for Sergio Aguero, was devastatingly accurate while his first was truly a thing of beauty.
Receiving the ball in the right-hand side of Tottenham's half, De Bruyne barely even looked up before whipping a Beckham-esque cross into Raheem Sterling to head home at the far post.
2. Newcastle Screamer (30/11/19)
What a hit son.
For the first of his goal of the season nominees, the Belgian cushioned a looping ball on his chest before unleashing a volley struck so sweetly struck that had the goal not been there to stop it, it may have ended up somewhere in the English Channel.
Exceptional.
3. Arsenal Masterclass (15/12/19)
Were it not for a brilliant fingertip save by Arsenal keeper Bernd Leno, De Bruyne would have scored one the Premier League's greatest hat-tricks.
He was the star of the show as the Citizens embarrassed Arsenal on their own turf, slamming a bouncing ball into the top of the net from outside the box, putting one on a plate of Sterling, and bending a powerful effort past the diving Leno.
Not a performance that'll be forgotten for a while, no matter how hard the Arsenal fans try.
4. Beating Real Madrid in the Bernabéu (26/02/20)
Their Champions League campaign might not have panned out exactly how Man City wanted it to, but their victory over Real is definitely one for the history books.
Despite dominating for most of the match, City found themselves a goal down after Isco opened the scoring. After that goal, it became the Kevin De Bruyne show.
Driving into the Madrid box, the Belgian midfielder was closed down by five players, did that matter? Not one bit. De Bruyne chipped a delightful ball across the box leaving Gabriel Jesus with an easy header. 1-1.
After Sterling was scythed down in the box by Dani Carvajal, De Bruyne stepped up to take the penalty to put City ahead. Faced with almost 80,000 whistling Real supporters, the midfield maestro appeared the calmest person in the stadium as he tucked the ball into the corner.
A great night for City; another great performance by De Bruyne.
5. Equalling the Assist Record Against Norwich (26/07/20)
Man City signed off their season in style with a 5-0 thrashing of already relegated Norwich City.
It was a resounding victory but one of importance to the Belgian who, after setting up Sterling, equaled Thierry Henry's record 20 assists in a single season. Few thought that record would ever be matched but if anyone was capable it was going to be De Bruyne. He'll no doubt be looking to chip in one more next season and have that record all to himself.
Oh, and he also scored his second goal of the season nominee.