New stadium? No fear, says Man City midfielder Kevin de Bruyne
Man City midfielder dismisses Tottenham's potential boost from their new home, Son disagrees
Much has been made of Tottenham Hotspur's new stadium, but Manchester City midfielder Kevin de Bruyne says his side have no fears about playing there when the clubs meet in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final tomorrow morning (Singapore time).
| TOTTENHAM | MAN CITY |
"I don't think there's any difference if we play at Wembley or there (Tottenham Hotspur Stadium)," he said, ahead of City's first visit to the new 62,062-seater venue.
"Maybe they are a little bit more excited because they can play at their new home but, in the end, it's the same.
"The stadium is going to be 60,000 people there for Spurs. It's the same when we play at home, we have our home supporters. In the end, it's the same."
The Belgian is more preoccupied with who he will be up against. He added: "I care about the team we play.
"Everybody talks about the stadium like it's something special. Everybody has a stadium, everybody has supporters."
SON REBUKES
The midfielder's comments have been met with rebuke from Tottenham forward Son Heung Min, saying "We've missed our home", Reuters reported.
"Of course the atmosphere can help," Son said.
"We've played away from home for almost two years. We've missed our home a lot.
"Maybe the City players don't realise because they've always played at home.
"People are excited to see the first Champions League game at the new stadium and we want to put on a good performance. City are a strong side like us, we should enjoy it and have fun in our new stadium. It will be amazing."
City are second in the English Premier League, two points behind Liverpool but having played a game less, and reached the FA Cup final after beating Brighton and Hove Albion 1-0 on Saturday.
Having already won the League Cup this season, City, who have won 21 of their last 23 matches in all competitions, are still on track for a Quadruple, but de Bruyne says there is "no point thinking about it".
"You know how heavy the schedule is? People underestimate how the fixtures come that quickly. We don't even have time to have a rest ourselves, so how can we think about what's going to happen in four weeks?"
Man City manager Pep Guardiola concurred with de Bruyne in his pre-match press conference last night that Spurs' new stadium has no bearing on proceedings tomorrow, Manchester Evening News reported.
"It affects if we think about the fans but, if we think about what we do on the pitch, it doesn't affect," Guardiola said.
"We know who we are going to face, up to us how we handle it. We have to know how to handle the situations. If we don't, that's because we are not prepared to go through."
Guardiola also provided updates on the fitness of Sergio Aguero as well as defenders Kyle Walker and Benjamin Mendy.
"Aguero trained with the team for the first time on Sunday and feels better," Guardiola said.
"As for the other two, they make recovery. Kyle feels a bit better and Benjamin recovered quite well. Possible contenders for tomorrow if the doctor doesn't tell me the opposite."
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