Pep Guardiola urges Manchester City star to do 'the simple things' right in order to earn a place in the starting lineup

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola recently outlined the things Kevin de Bruyne should do to earn his place back in the team.

De Bruyne has been benched in three of City's last seven Premier League matches. The Belgian also came on as a late substitute during the weekend's (March 12) 1-0 win against Crystal Palace.

Guardiola was quizzed ahead of City's UEFA Champions League Round of 16 second-leg clash against RB Leipzig about how De Bruyne can earn his place back.

He said (via Metro):

"It’s been a difficult season for all of us, me included, due to the World Cup and many things, I’m not going to discover [how good] Kevin [is]. What I’d like – I spoke many times to him – is [for him] to go to the easy principles and do it well. He has an incredible ability to make an assist, to score goals and see passes like no one else."

He added:

"But I always have the belief that they will increase and get better when the simple things [are done]: like don’t lose the ball, the mobility, the incredible capacity to be active in the movement. The simple things: do it again better and better. When this is going to happen the rest will come along."

De Bruyne has scored five goals and has provided 18 assists in 34 games across competitions this season.

Since joining the Etihad outfit from Wolfsburg in 2015, De Bruyne has scored 91 goals and has provided 139 assists in 341 matches for Manchester City.

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Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola used an Eling Haaland reference for Kevin De Bruyne

Speaking ahead of Manchester City's UEFA Champions League clash against RB Leipzig, Guardiola used an Erling Haaland reference to talk about De Bruyne. The Spaniard said:

"I don’t want him [Haaland] to just score goals and of the rest I don’t care, So he will score and [if] he will be involved in the game it means that you run inside of the game, the ball is coming and you put the ball in the net."

He added:

"With Kevin it’s the same. When the simple things are done perfectly, we are in the right moment [to] move outside, inside, and when we have to attack the channels or whatever you do or feel in that moment, the actions to create incredible passes that he – only he – can find, it will be easier, it will be better."

The first leg between Manchester City and RB Leipzig ended in a 1-1 draw. Hence, it is all to play for when the two sides lock horns in the second leg at the Etihad on March 14.