De Bruyne Ruled Out For Ten Weeks

De Bruyne turned the League Cup semi-final second leg in Manchester City’s favour and helped them to a 3-1 win, with a goal and an assist on the night, which got them to the final.

He appeared to get his studs caught in the turf and then landed on his knee as City closed in on their 4-3 aggregate triumph, which sealed a final trip to Wembley to face Liverpool.

Pellegrini accepted the ball had crossed the line before Raheem Sterling’s cut back set up Kevin De Bruyne to score City’s vital second goal on Wednesday.

Earlier Thursday, de Bruyne’s agent, Patrick de Koster, said his client would likely be out for only six weeks. “He has been very important to us all season”. Pellegrini says “I’m optimistic he will not be out for the season” because it is not a cruciate injury. “We hope that he can return before, but the first diagnostic is that he must be out for 8-10 weeks”. Against Everton we played different ways during the game.

De Koster detailed the injuries as a “tear in the ankle and also the lateral (knee) ligaments”.

As well as the Capitol One Cup final against Liverpool, he will miss both legs of City’s Champions League last-16 tie against Dynamo Kiev and will be doubtful for the quarter-finals in April if they qualify.

“Everton had just one shot in the second half so I don’t think we are in the final because of that refereeing decision”.

“It’s a challenge for the squad and of course it’s a challenge for the players that play where Kevin does”, said Pellegrini. Robles later apologized on Twitter for accusing De Bruyne of wasting time.

De Koster added an update tomorrow morning would be more precise as to when the player would be 100 per cent again. “In some moments we couldn’t play with Sergio or David and now we play without Kevin”. We suffered far more damage from the referee than Everton.

Pellegrini said: “I never tried to find an excuse and complain about those things because they are part of the game”.