Emotional Guardiola leads tributes to De Bruyne after final home game

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola paid tribute to Kevin De Bruyne after his final appearance at home for the club during their 3-1 victory over Bournemouth on Tuesday.

De Bruyne ed the club from Wolfsburg in 2015 and has gone on to win 14 major trophies during his time with City, including the Premier League six times.

“There’s something that you cannot buy, if you’re honest. He got all the love especially the gratitude for the player year after year what he’s done,” said Guardiola, while speaking to Sky Sports.

“The most important thing was to win the game and we did it against an incredible opponent. They destroyed us in the Premier League in the first leg. The games are always good, we had chances, they had chances, it was open and the people enjoy.”

The 33-year-old was substituted in the 69th minute in order to receive a standing ovation from the Etihad Stadium and Guardiola acknowledged that it was an emotional moment.

“It was true we felt something, it was his day we wanted to win for him. The vibes we had since we arrived were there,” he said.

“Again, I at the start of the season we conceded a lot of goals and I cannot forget he played 100 minutes a few days ago it was so demanding. The incredible chance he had to score a goal would’ve been the cherry on the cake.

“I ed immediately when it happened, maybe the second season of him when we were together and this was quite similar [to the miss against Chelsea].”

Thank you, @KevinDeBruyne pic.twitter.com/L2ZFrr0HsN

— Manchester City (@ManCity) May 20, 2025

Coming on for De Bruyne was the returning Nico Gonzalez, who also scored City’s third goal of the night in the 89th minute, while Rodri also came off the bench in the 83rd minute to make his first appearance since September after recovering from an ACL injury.

“It’s good news, Nico is a fantastic guy. I think he made a fantastic goal and it’s fantastic news Rodri is back.”

For Bournemouth, meanwhile, manager Andoni Iraola found the positives despite defeat at the Etihad meaning European qualification was an impossibility.

The lowest spot in the Premier League that could come with a place in Europe is eighth, currently occupied by Brighton & Hove Albion on 58 points. Bournemouth remain 11th on 53 points following their loss in Manchester.

“Obviously it’s been a good season, but we want to finish it well and we want to finish it with three points,” he told Sky Sports.

“We can also finish ninth, 10th, 11th or 12th, so we want to finish as high as possible and aloe finish by winning the last game in front of our fans. I hope we can do it on Sunday.”

Iraola also believed that the red card picked up by Lewis Cook on 73 minutes for a lunging tackle on Gonzalez was unwarranted.

Cook’s red was the second of the match, with Mateo Kovacic also given his marching orders just six minutes previously after fouling Evanilson when through on goal.

“I think the red card is clear, Kovacic. I think our red card is, I think you have to understand it. I think Lew arrives, it’s not a 50/50 or he arrives a lot earlier than Nico and tries to pull out his leg after making the ,” he told the Bournemouth Echo.

“And this pulling out probably makes it look worse because he raises his foot and the is higher. If you go maybe more strong, it would be more dangerous for Nico, much harder.

“But probably not a red card. You know, it’s not just the point of . You have to understand the game and you have to understand what Lewis Cook is doing. He wins the ball clearly.

“It’s a clear tackle and then he tries to break, pull out, and I don’t think it should be a red, but I understand also that he takes that decision.”