Kevin De Bruyne reveals Manchester City training secret after impressive Burnley set-piece routine

Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne has discussed the club’s set-piece training, following an assist against Burnley on Wednesday evening.

The 32-year-old made his first Manchester City start since August in midweek, captaining Pep Guardiola’s side in the 3-1 Premier League win over Vincent Kompany’s Burnley at the Etihad Stadium.

De Bruyne, who’s last start came in the reverse fixture at Turf Moor, featured for 70 minutes on Wednesday night, as the Belgian international continues to recover from hamstring surgery.

The midfielder played a key role in Manchester City’s second goal against the Clarets, as Julian Alvarez marked his 24th birthday with a superb brace, taking the Argentine’s goalscoring figures to 15 for the campaign.

Alvarez opened the scoring with a smart header, before doubling the Blues’ lead after combing with De Bruyne for a clever set-piece routine.

De Bruyne effortlessly rolled the ball into the path of Alvarez, successfully deceiving Burnley’s defence and allowing the City striker to smash past James Trafford to extend the Cityzens’ lead in the 22nd minute.

Speaking post-match, De Bruyne revealed that the free-kick routine had been discussed in training prior to the match, with Manchester City having also scored against Spurs from a set-piece in the FA Cup last week.

“Yesterday, we worked on it,” revealed De Bruyne.

“I didn’t really want to do it. But the defender with Julian [Alvarez] moved into the middle. So he opened space to go into. I just had to put it straight with the right speed.”

Rodri ensured the three points with a strike from outside the area within 26 seconds of the second-half, although Burnley did score a late consolation through Ameen Al-Dakhil at the Etihad Stadium.

Manchester City remain five points behind league leaders Liverpool after the victory, and face Brentford in the Premier League on Monday evening.