KDB could be forced to take things easy

KEVIN de Bruyne's first words on the pitch at Wembley, having just helped City into the FA Cup final, were telling. "I'm tired," he said.

- JOE BRAY

Maybe it was the sprint and celebratory jump to the Blues fans from the half-way line that wore him out. Or maybe it was the 202 minutes he had just played in three days in two huge games.

Pep Guardiola and Bernardo Silva blasted the FA for making City play twice in less than three days. Guardiola said he just wanted to protect his players. Bernardo insisted he wouldn't have complained had City lost, but questioned the motivations of the FA and simply said "it's not acceptable."

Amid Bernardo's extraordinary comments clearly fueled by anger as he let his emotions out in the Wembley mixed zone - was a nod to De Bruyne's condition. "I played 90 minutes today. Me, Kevin, Phil (Foden). I wasn't fine at all. I wasn't fine," he said.

De Bruyne, clearly, wasn't fine. He was understandably tired, and speaking after the cup semi-final, De Bruyne admitted that some of his performances haven't been as good as others as a result of his injury problems.

"It's been a different year. It's been a weird period - coming back after such a long injury. I can't lie," he said. "I know people expect to see you on the pitch and to be the same as before, but it takes time to get to your best level. Some performances have been really good, some have been a bit less, but I give everything| that I need to get to this level so I'm happy."