City reached the last four for the first time, but lost 1-0 on aggregate to Zinedine Zidane’s side, with many people believing the Blues didn’t ‘go for it’ enough in the Bernabeu.
The Belgian can’t quite put his finger on the reasons City didn’t throw caution to the wind that night, but believes it is all part of the learning curve needed for teams looking to win the competition.
“Everybody wanted it to be different against Real Madrid but that’s how it played out on the night,” said De Bruyne.
“Sometimes you are so on it and ready to go but it just doesn’t come out on the pitch – it’s difficult to explain. It’s a shame we didn’t go through – it’s not as though we didn’t want it badly enough or didn’t try – but the important thing is that we learn from the experience and I think we have.
“At our best, we can beat anyone but that means everyone has to be on the top of their game and that can’t always be the case in football – that’s just how it is.”
De Bruyne admits he hasn’t seen anything of Monaco this season, but is aware of their progress in the Champions League and their form in Ligue 1 where they still lead the table ahead of PSG.
“I’ve not seen very much of any football other than our own games,” revealed De Bruyne. “When I go home I like to play with my son and have family time so I don’t watch football on TV.
“I know they are doing well in France but French football is not like Spain, England or Germany. That said, they are above PSG and at the top of their league so they are obviously a very good team and we will respect them.
Kick-off time, team news and TV information for Manchester City v Monaco in the Champions League.
“But no matter who we play, we feel we have a good chance of progressing. Monaco may not have the same reputation as Real Madrid or Bayern Munich, but we still have to be 100% on it or else we will be punished.
“It’s too hard to know just how good they are until we play them but they are a dangerous side who score plenty of goals.
“We just need to make sure we play the best we can over two legs and if we do, we’ll have a good chance of going into the next round.”
We’ll have full coverage of Manchester City v Monaco on mancity.com!
