De Bruyne reborn at 35: brace with Belgium, Allegri smiles ahead of Napoli clash
After the assist against Italy and the double against Turkey, KdB returns as a leader. Allegri eyes the pairing with Hojlund to revamp the Napoli attack
Kevin De Bruyne hardly looks like a player at the end of his career. At 35 years old, Napoli's midfielder is having an absolute standout international break with Belgium, with an assist against Italy and a brilliant brace against Turkey.
According to Tuttosport, Allegri is closely watching De Bruyne's performances and "taking notes", aware that upon returning from the break the best version of De Bruyne will be needed to raise the quality of Napoli's play.
King Kev's numbers
According to Il Napolista, citing Corriere dello Sport, with the two goals on Friday De Bruyne reaches 40 goals for his country in 127 appearances, to which must be added the 108 scored with Manchester City, the 17 with Genk, the 20 with Wolfsburg and the 6 with Napoli, the last coming on the first matchday against Genoa. A total of 201 goals in his career, accompanied by over 300 assists.
His coach Van Bommel commented: "Kevin always transmits joy".
In the Napoli shirt De Bruyne is stuck on the goal and assist from the 2-0 in Marassi, but according to Corriere dello Sport he is playing consistently in the attacking midfielder role in Allegri's "Max formula", the one that features "De Bruyne and the other ten".
The partnership with Hojlund
Rasmus Hojlund has also shone during this break, scoring two goals, one of which against Portugal with a soft touch from Damsgaard's through pass, and setting up a third. Corriere dello Sport, as reported by Il Napolista, speaks of four goals overall collected by Allegri from the Nations League and identifies the Hojlund-De Bruyne partnership as the axis to build on when the league resumes in earnest.
A connection already seen on the pitch, like the 1-0 goal against Sporting Lisbon born from the collaboration between the two. Napoli, who at this early stage of the season has scored just seven goals (two of which by Hojlund), hopes to rediscover on return from the break the brilliance shown by its two quality players on the international stage.
Cross-checked across 5 sources We don't write the news: we gather it from established outlets, summarise it, and leave you the links to the originals.
Sources
- Tuttosport - Napoli — De Bruyne fa magie con il Belgio e a Napoli sognano: Allegri se lo gode e prende appunti
- Il Napolista — De Bruyne sembra rinato a 35 anni: per Allegri sarà lui più altri dieci
- stylo24.it — De Bruyne e Vergara, il Napoli adesso aspetta soltanto loro
- Corriere dello Sport — De Bruyne, gol e giocate super: Allegri può sorridere
- DAZN — De Bruyne brilla con il Belgio: perché al Napoli non riesce ad esprimere tutto il suo potenziale?
🤖 Article written with the help of artificial intelligence based on the sources listed and automatically verified. · Automatically translated from Italian About us
