Kevin De Bruyne: Manchester City have proven they can win the Champions League after statement Barcelona win
Belgian ace netted the second for Pep Guardiola's men and he claims they laid down the gauntlet to other European giants
KEVIN DE BRUYNE claims Manchester City's 3-1 win over European giants Barcelona has sent a message to the rest of Europe.
The Belgian ace, 23, scored Pep Guardiola's side's second to give his side a 2-1 lead after Lionel Messi had earlier put Barca in front, only to be cancelled out by Ilkay Gundogan.
Having avenged their 4-0 drubbing at the Nou Camp a fortnight ago, De Bruyne has said the rest of Europe have no seen what they can do in the "well deserved victory".
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When asked if it was one of Man City's best ever Champions League wins, De Bruyne said: "It's difficult to tell. I have only played a couple in Europe with City.
"Obviously it was a good one. The first half hour was a bit nervous but after that we found the key to put them under pressure.
"I think from the moment we scored 1-1 we did really well. They didn't create a lot of chances any more and I think in the end we fully deserved to win.
"We were putting them under pressure. I don't think they knew how to break us in the second half and we could have scored more goals.
"Barca is a very good team but I think we did really well and showed what we have got."
Former Chelsea man De Bruyne went on to say that the win was less to do with their attacking prowess and more about their disciplined, error-less performance.
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He said: "Obviously it is a really well deserved victory.
"I think we tried to play the same way we did in Nou Camp.
"There we made some mistakes but in the end it was the same way of playing.
"Obviously if you make mistakes you lose 4-0. Today we made less mistakes and won 3-1."
De Bruyne then looked ahead to City's Premier League clash at the weekend against Middlesbrough, saying he will take nothing for granted.
He added: "Everybody will give everything they have got against us. We have to do what we know how to do.
"The game against Middlesbrough is going to be another tough test.
"It is going to be completely different than against Barcelona but in the end we have to do the job and try to win the game.
"Obviously everyone will talk about it because it was Barcelona but if you lose at the weekend it doesn't matter.
"We have to do the same as we did in these two games and try to win against Middlesbrough to go into the international break with a good series and try to maintain top spot in the league."