Pep Guardiola’s men sailed into a 2-0 lead inside 13 minutes, thanks to goals from Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus but the Italians clawed their way back into the game with an Amadou Diawara penalty, having already been denied from the spot by Ederson in the first half.
De Bruyne continued his scintillating form, claiming yet another assist with a superb drilled cross for Jesus, but with Napoli chasing a leveller, the Belgian admitted his side had to dig deep to earn the victory.
“The second half was more difficult,” he reflected. “They were playing really good football but even then, we had a couple of chances.
“The other games are not easy. Even when you win with a lot of goals, there’s a lot of work that we put in.
“It maybe looks easy but at the end of the game, you are tired no matter what.
“We’ve had a couple [of important wins], especially in the beginning of the season and against Shakhtar.
“It’s totally different than to play Stoke. It’s the Champions League.
“Napoli didn’t lose in the Italian league. I know them because I watched a few games to see Dries Mertens.
“They really like to play football, like we do so it’s totally different. I knew it was going to be tough.
“In the end, it’s a great result for us so we are happy.
“We handled it quite well and we’re very happy with the nine points [in the Group F].”
City now face six games in 19 days, due to their Champions League and Carabao Cup exploits.
With such a hectic schedule, De Bruyne expects Guardiola will rotate the squad – though with the likes of Sergio Aguero, Bernardo Silva and Ilkay Gundogan waiting in the wings, the Blues’ strength in depth is frightening.
“We will change anyway,” added De Bruyne. “Even now, we play three games and start with the same team but since Pep arrived, that didn’t happen a lot.
“I know everybody who is coming in is doing a great job so one day, we will change the team and I have no fear whatsoever for the other guys.
“They will do the same job as we do.”
