“He would pull me into his office” – Kevin De Bruyne opens up on ‘feisty exchanges’ with Pep Guardiola | OneFootball

Kevin De Bruyne has opened up on the subject of his ‘feisty exchanges’ with manager Pep Guardiola, ahead of this weekend’s Champions League final.

The Belgian will be hoping to win his first ever European crown this weekend, when Manchester City take on Serie A giants Inter in the final of the competition hosted in Istanbul, Turkey.

City have endured a challenging route to the final in this season’s tournament, having to defeat Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich, and Real Madrid en route to the showpiece finale at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium on Saturday night.

Along the way, Kevin De Bruyne and Pep Guardiola have faced their own respective challenges too, clashing during the second-half of the 4-0 win over Real Madrid at the Etihad Stadium in the semi-final second-leg of the Champions League.

When quizzed on whether such ‘feisty exchanges’ were an issue at some stages of the season, Kevin De Bruyne told the media this week, “Yeah… that’s fine. I don’t see any issue. We’ve never talked about it after or before, or whatever.

“These are things that happen. You play competitive sport at the highest level so you do everything to win, and that happens with players, that happens with coaches. There’s nothing bad about it in my eyes, and I don’t think in his eyes because otherwise he would pull me into his office.”

Saturday night presents Manchester City with an opportunity to make history in several ways, as success in the Champions League would not only be the club’s first triumph in the competition, but also complete a historic treble.

City claimed the third successive Premier League title after fending off the challenge from Arsenal this season, while victory in the Emirates FA Cup final against Manchester United last weekend secured their second success in the tournament under Pep Guardiola.

Kevin De Bruyne however does not feel any added pressure about what is now at stake this weekend, as he explained, “It would be pretty special, but I just want to try and perform the best way I can do on Saturday.

“I don’t feel any added pressure. This season’s been incredible no matter what happens, but it could be unbelievable if we win on Saturday. Maybe that makes people more at ease anyway, but I can’t speak for anybody else. I feel fine, I feel good to go, and that’s it.”

Manchester City are expected to travel to Istanbul on Thursday afternoon, before the final media duties and training ground preparations are completed on Friday evening ahead of Saturday night’s showpiece event in the Turkish city.