De Bruyne: Manchester City must react against Borussia Monchengladbach

Kevin De Bruyne has urged his Manchester City team-mates to show what they are made of when they host Borussia Monchengladbach on Tuesday after Saturday’s defeat at the hands of Stoke City.

Manuel Pellegrini’s men have already booked their ticket for the knockout stages ahead of their final group game, but De Bruyne wants them to give their all versus Gladbach nonetheless as they can still pip Juventus to top spot in Group D.

“From our perspective, we just need to win this game and see where it takes us. We need to react to our loss at Stoke so this is an opportunity for us to do that quickly,” De Bruyne told the official City website.

“They are probably about where they should be at the moment in the Bundesliga. They develop young players into future stars and when they are established they generally move to other clubs, so it’s not easy for them but that said, I think they have a really good side just now. 

“They are now playing the way they were last season, as their win over Bayern proves. They have recovered well from a difficult start and if they have a good second round of Bundesliga matches I think they should achieve a top-four finish again. 

“It’s going to be difficult to finish as group winners but we have to give ourselves the best chance of that happening by beating Monchengladbach. Even if Juventus only draw in Sevilla we will finish second, but we’ll try and do our part and then see what happens in the other game.”

City beat Monchengladbach 2-1 in the reverse fixture.