De Bruyne keen to play down hype around Tottenham’s new stadium ahead of Champions League tie

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Manchester City travel to Tottenham’s new stadium for the first Champions League match in the revamped arena tomorrow night for the first leg of the two sides’ quarter-final tie.

City remain on course for the quadruple after Saturday’s 1-0 FA Cup semi-final win over Brighton at Wembley, the stadium in which Spurs would have been hosting tomorrow’s game if the new White Hart Lane wasn’t finished.

And Spurs may hope to gain an advantage on their imperious opponents in the new stadium, but playmaker Kevin de Bruyne has completely dismissed the idea that the arena will have an impact.

According to The Game, page 5, 08/04, de Bruyne said: “I don’t care about the stadium. Everybody talks about the stadium like it’s something special. Everybody has a stadium. Everybody has supporters.”

“They’ll probably be a little bit more excited but in the end, it’s a stadium with supporters. We’ll be alright. The stadium doesn’t matter.”

This City side is playing with such confidence that they are not bothered by who, or where they’re playing, they fancy themselves to get a win.

City were overwhelmed and overrun at Anfield at this stage of the competition last year, though, which shows that the atmosphere can get under their skin.

So despite de Bruyne’s comments, if Spurs can ruffle City’s feathers, they could gain a first-leg advantage.