It wasn’t just McTominay’s brace. Kevin De Bruyne also made a less eye-catching but hugely influential contribution to the four goals Napoli put past Bodø to secure their first three points in the Champions League.
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Allegri deployed him in an unfamiliar position, moving him considerably deeper and effectively handing him the keys to the team as a playmaker in front of the defence. A bold choice, given the Belgian’s qualities, but one rewarded with a magnificent performance.
According to Opta data, De Bruyne had 82 touches and completed 59 of his 65 passes, a 91% success rate, becoming the focal point of Napoli’s build-up play. His accuracy when Napoli had to build in the opposition half was equally impressive: 34 successful passes out of 39, or 87%. In his own half, meanwhile, he was almost flawless, completing 25 out of 26, or 96%.
🎯 A deep-lying playmaker with a number 10’s vision
Playing further from goal did not deprive De Bruyne of the quality that makes him special: the ability to create something others cannot see. The Belgian produced 7 key passes, created 2 big chances and registered an assist, finishing with 0.39 xA. Another particularly telling statistic for his new role was his 8 successful long balls out of 11, a 73% success rate.
His passing map shows a player operating across virtually the entire width of the pitch, able to receive the ball deep, switch play and suddenly inject pace into an attack. Allegri did not simply put De Bruyne in Lobotka’s place. He asked him to occupy the same space in a completely different way: less sideways passing and a more immediate emphasis on playing forward. Lobotka is the metronome who gives possession its rhythm; De Bruyne, even from a deep-lying role, still thinks like a creator in the final third.
💪 De Bruyne gets his hands dirty too
And there is another aspect of his performance that risks going unnoticed: his work without the ball. De Bruyne recorded 7 defensive contributions and 6 ball recoveries, adding 2 interceptions and 2 clearances. He also won 2 of his 3 aerial duels. These numbers are far from incidental in explaining why the experiment worked. The Belgian did not just receive and distribute the ball: he also did the work needed to protect the team and regain possession. It is precisely this all-round contribution that makes Allegri’s tactical choice even more intriguing.
👀 From Villarreal to Bodø: perhaps Allegri was right?
This inevitably brings to mind what happened at Villarreal. On that occasion, De Bruyne had a disagreement—or rather a misunderstanding, as Allegri described it—over the deeper position he was supposed to occupy. A tactical instruction that caused some friction between the Belgian and his coach.
Against Bodø, however, Allegri not only revisited the idea of dropping De Bruyne deeper but gave him yet another role, in some ways an even more complicated one, placing him at the heart of the build-up to offer something different from Lobotka. The answer came on the pitch, with a magnificent performance.
From the disagreement at Villarreal to a masterclass in deep-lying playmaking, the leap is considerable. De Bruyne naturally remains a player who can make the difference closer to goal, but this match showed just how influential he can be anywhere on the pitch.
At this point, the question almost asks itself: perhaps De Bruyne should start listening to Allegri a little more?
This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇮🇹 here.