Man City: Antonio Conte explains early Kevin De Bruyne substitution as star's return ended prematurely | OneFootball

Belgian started from the off on his return to the Etihad Stadium

Antonio Conte explained that substituting Kevin De Bruyne was “the only decision” he could make during Napoli’s 2-0 defeat against Man City in the Champions League.

He arrived at the ground to a hero’s welcome from the home faithful, who cheered him and sang his name during the warm-up and then when he was brought off in the first half.

The 34-year-old was withdrawn early because Napoli had Giovanni di Lorenzo sent off for a foul on Erling Haaland, denying the City striker a clear goalscoring opportunity.

Needing another defender in his absence, Conte opted to curtail De Bruyne’s fairytale return, replacing him with natural left-back Mathias Olivera.

The midfielder looked dejected to be coming off so prematurely, and Conte said that he felt for him in his post-match interview.

“It was the only substitution that I could do, honestly,” Conte told TNT Sports.

“I was really sorry for him because it was a game against his old team, but Kevin understood very well. I had only this decision.”

The former Tottenham and Chelsea manager had not seen the di Lorenzo sending off back, but admitted that the dismissal made his side’s task “impossible”.

“It is already difficult against City 11 vs 11, and then after 20 minutes, it was impossible,” Conte said.

“With 10 men, defensively, we were really good. The two goals we could do much better. I don’t have anything to tell my players, because the commitment was good and I think that if it were 11 vs 11, we could have seen another game.

“We are talking about Man City, a fantastic team. I go back to Italy with the mentality of the team, which I liked as they suffered together.”