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‘De Bruyne has to play every game’ – Man City legend Zabaleta hoping to see no more bench duty

Kevin De Bruyne was back pulling the strings for Manchester City against Shakhtar Donetsk and Blues legend Pablo Zabaleta says the Belgian “has to play every single game”.

Questions were asked of Pep Guardiola when he named one of his most creative influences among the substitutes at Norwich on Saturday.

That decision backfired, with City suffering a shock 3-2 defeat at Carrow Road.

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De Bruyne played down any suggestion afterwards that his benching contributed to a rare setback, but he was returned to the starting XI for midweek Champions League duty.