Nations League duels are just perfumed friendlies, no more matches for Belgium star after a tough season

The league season itself is very demanding for all of them, who also play European cups. Not to mention the national team duties, which of course also concern the likes of Kevin De Bruyne. So it’s not surprising that he’s not too excited about the upcoming matches in the Nations League after celebrating the league title.

The Belgian midfielder has played 45 games for Manchester City this season, in which he has been involved in 33 goals. It was De Bryune, then, who was a key figure in the quest for the Premier League title.

To this we have to add 4 games for the national team, in which he made his debut in August 2010, though he missed 5 of them. One of those games was the World Cup qualifier against the Czech Republic in September. Back then he was struggling with an ankle injury and missed all 3 of Belgium’s duels.

However, after celebrating the league title with his teammates, he joined the national team on Monday and Roberto Martinez will prepare them for Friday’s clash against the Netherlands.

Alongside them in the group are Poland and Wales, who will fight in Group A4 to qualify for the play-offs, but it is Friday’s opponents who are the favourites.

“Two weeks is too long. But we won’t change much as players. But the Nations League is not important in my eyes. They are just glorified friendlies after a very long and difficult season. I’m not really looking forward to it,” De Bruyne told reporters.

For these much-worked players, one can certainly understand that they would need a longer break, something that Pep Guardiola in particular has been pointing out for a long time in England. So far, however, no result.

Who are certainly looking forward to the upcoming matches, however, are the Czech national team, who have Switzerland in their second group, with whom they kick off the Nations League on Thursday, followed by Portugal and Spain.

Group One will then see Austria take on France, Croatia and Denmark, while Group Three will be the most interesting group to name, with Germany, Italy, England and Hungary joining forces.

Source: Goal, UEFA