Allegri: De Bruyne is an exceptional player

Massimiliano Allegri, the head coach of Napoli, acknowledged that Belgian midfielder Kevin De Bruyne is a player unlike any other, emphasizing that very few footballers possess his unique abilities, following his contribution to Napoli’s 2-0 victory over host Genoa in the opening round of the Italian Serie A.

Napoli started slowly in the first half, but their performance improved markedly after De Bruyne, Antonio Verde, and Nova Lang came on as substitutes. De Bruyne opened the scoring after physically overpowering Johan Vasquez, before setting up Verde, who added a second goal on a counterattack.

Allegri said: “The first match is always full of curiosity. I’ve only known the team for six weeks, so I don’t yet know which players can deliver the best impact when coming off the bench. That’s why there was some hesitation about the substitutions, but the players who came on performed very well.”

The Italian manager added: “Genoa played a very good game in the first 25 or 30 minutes, and we made many mistakes while building up play from the back. But as the game progressed, we began to exert greater control.”

Allegri praised De Bruyne highly, saying: “De Bruyne is an exceptional player who does things completely differently from ordinary players. He showed great determination in scoring the goal; he sees things that other players cannot. There are very few players like him.”