Kevin De Bruyne’s decisive penalty in the 2-1 victory in the Spanish capital was his 50th goal for City from 207 starts – a return close to a goal every four games.
And during a season when the Belgian has been at his masterful best, there is another impressive milestone he has in his sights.
De Bruyne’s 16 Premier League assists for 2019/20 leaves him just four short of equalling Arsenal legend Thierry Henry’s record of 20 which has stood since 2002/03.
In total, he has 19 assists for City in all competitions this season and nine goals.
Given his current form and with 11 Premier League games remaining, De Bruyne will be hopeful he can surpass the Premier League assist record held by his former national team coach Henry.
Earlier in the campaign, De Bruyne became the fastest player to reach 50 Premier League assists when he laid on Sergio Aguero’s opening goal away to Bournemouth.
That meant he’d reached the half-century mark in just 123 appearances – 18 fewer than another Arsenal player, Mesut Ozil.
In total, KDB has amassed 82 assists for City in all competitions and 62 in the Premier League where even he has some catching up to surpass team-mate David Silva who is currently on 90 – Ryan Giggs holds the all-time record with 162 – a full 51 more than second placed Cesc Fabregas on 111.
Kevin also tops the Premier League goal involvement charts this campaign, with 24 to date – 16 assists and eight goals – which is three more than second-placed Jamie Vardy.
Perhaps even more impressive are De Bruyne’s career stats that have seen him score 92 goals and create 149 goals for team-mates from 375 games for Genk, Chelsea, Werder Bremen, Wolfsburg, City and Belgium.
He has twice scored 16 goals in a season – one for Wolfsburg and one for City – and with seven goals needed to equal that tally, becoming the team’s nominated penalty-taker make that figure achievable.
The fewest games City could have remaining is 14 – the maximum would be 22 (City would need to reach the Champions League and FA Cup finals to achieve that number), so the talented playmaker looks set to new records as the season enters its business end.
Former England and Manchester United skipper Rio Ferdinand commented on BT Sport: “He’s the best midfielder in the world right now. I don’t think there’s anyone near him in terms of what he can do.
“He does everything: his athleticism, running away from people, his pass appreciation, his decision-making in the final third.
“I would say 99 per cent of the time, he gets it right.”
With the PFA Player of the Year nominations on the horizon, could this finally be Kevin’s year?
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