'It was an absolute mess' - Kevin De Bruyne explains emotional reason behind tearful celebration against Real Madrid & infamous on-field clash with Man City boss Pep Guardiola en route to 2023 treble

Reflecting on his career at the club, De Bruyne said that City's victory over Madrid in the Champions League was marked by a difficult time for him personally off the pitch. The midfielder explained that either side of the two Madrid games both his wife's grandfather and his grandmother had died. The Belgian scored a rocket at the Bernabeu to take a 1-1 draw back to Manchester, where they would then win 4-0 to reach the final before beating Inter 1-0 to lift the trophy.

During the second leg of the tie against Madrid, De Bruyne was seen shouting "shut up" in the direction of his boss Pep Guardiola after the coach instructed him to pass the ball. The clip went viral and suggested a potential rift between the two. Guardiola explained: “At 2-0 we rushed a lot. Right after the break [Ilkay] Gundogan lost a ball, Kevin made three transitions that weren’t necessary and we rushed a lot when we had to do the opposite, sink them and turn them, sink them and turn them. But it’s normal. It gets close, you rush, and it has cost us more, although in general we have had an extraordinary game.”

Thierry Henry had added that he spoke to De Bruyne after the game. “It was [a touching moment]. I can't say it because I have to keep that private. But from what he said to me, I even more respect how he played tonight and how he came and battled with his team," he said.

De Bruyne has now revealed that the game was filled with heightened emotions, given the difficult personal circumstances.

Doing his farewell interview with the club, De Bruyne said: “It’s probably one of the best weeks and the worst that I’d ever had in my life. I remember we played on the Tuesday and my wife’s grandfather, who was really close to us, was dealing with cancer.

"Obviously he was not really good and I think a lot of people already said goodbye. I was basically the only one who didn’t say goodbye so on Sunday I flew to Belgium to say goodbye.

"He was in really bad pain, then on Monday I had to fly here, train in the morning, then fly to Madrid and then on the Monday evening he died. It was a really emotional time, then obviously the next Sunday I had to go before the other Madrid game on Sunday or Monday to attend the funeral.

"Then at the time of his funeral my grandmother died so I had to drive five hours to say goodbye to her, it was an absolute mess. I just played on pure emotion, no sleep. There’s that clip where I got angry with Pep in the Madrid game because I was all over the place. I did what I had to do to play football.”

The Belgian's future beyond City remains unclear. He will play one final game for the club against Fulham before departing. He won't play in this summer's Club World Cup - despite his contract only expiring on June 30, and he is set to move abroad rather than stay in England.