Kevin De Bruyne has criticised former manager Antonio Conte, just days after his departure from Napoli.

Conte led Napoli to their fourth Scudetto in his debut season. He didn’t have as much success in his second season, though.

Napoli were unable to retain their Serie A title as they finished second, a distant 11 points behind Inter Milan. They also had a dismal Champions League campaign as they were knocked out in the League Phase.

While they didn’t end the campaign trophyless as they won the Supercoppa Italiana, Conte left the club by mutual consent at the conclusion of the season.

Kevin De Bruyne Criticises Antonio Conte

De Bruyne’s opening season at Napoli didn’t go as well as he would have hoped. The Belgian suffered a serious thigh injury in October, which kept him out of action for four months. He was limited to just 21 matches, recording five goals and four assists.

The 34-year-old has now remarkably called out Conte in an interview with Het Nieuwsblad ahead of this summer’s World Cup. He started:

De Bruyne then criticised Conte’s style of play and accused him of making false promises. He continued:

“We played very defensively. If you try to win every game by a one-goal margin with a 4-5-1 formation, you play a certain type of football. At the start of the season, we sat back even deeper. Our centre-forward scored just 10 goals, so you know the statistics are not going to be great…”

When asked whether De Bruyne was happy whether Conte had left the club, he replied: “For me, yes. As far as I am concerned, he was not obliged to stay. There were promises made last summer on the way that we would be playing, but at the end of the day not much of it happened.

De Bruyne has also said he could leave the club this summer amid frustration about how things have turned out at the Italian club.

“I still have a year left on my contract, but I want to talk about it. There was a lot of talk last year of how we’d play and what we would do, but none of it happened,” he said.

De Bruyne’s attention has now turned to the World Cup. The Manchester City legend has been named in Belgium’s squad alongside the likes of Romelu Lukaku, Jeremy Doku and Thibaut Courtois.

Ousmane Dembele helped Paris Saint-Germain secure their second successive Champions League title on Saturday night.

The world-class winger and current holder of the Ballon d’Or award scored the all-important goal from the penalty spot that levelled the final against Arsenal. PSG then went on to win the final in Budapest after a separate penalty shootout.

And what a penalty it was, too. Dembele is naturally left-footed and shaped to shoot on his favoured side before converting an unstoppable right-footed strike past David Raya, arguably the greatest goalkeeper in the world right now. Watch Dembele’s penalty below:

The first time it was noticed that Dembele chose to take penalties with his weaker right-foot was back in his days at Stade Rennais. When asked about the unusual decision, the attacker provided a short but sweet explanation that he preferred to shoot with his weaker side because he could generate more power.

The French international elaborated on this further after joining Barcelona in 2017, saying:

Being ambidextrous means having the ability to use both the right and left hands with equal proficiency. This skill is rare and can be natural or developed through practice.

More often than not, this is apparent when people are able to write or use cutlery with both hands. But in the case of Dembele, it’s made him an even more unpredictable player as he has the ability to cut in on his left or dribble down the right in equally devastating fashion.

Dembele Could Win Ballon d’Or Again

PSG’s latest Champions League triumph under Luis Enrique means Dembele has catapulted himself into pole position for the 2026 Ballon d’Or award. The Frenchman previously trailed the likes of Harry Kane, Lamine Yamal and Kylian Mbappe but now sits in top spot with less than five months to go before the ceremony.

Dembele, who has scored 20 goals and registered 11 assists in 40 games this season, could become the first player to retain the Ballon d’Or since Lionel Messi in 2021. However, much will depend on how France perform at this summer’s 2026 World Cup finals in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

If France win the tournament with Dembele playing a starring role, he’ll inevitably become the red-hot favouite to win the Ballon d’Or again and cements his status as one of the greats of his generation in the process.

Referee Daniel Siebert has been slammed by Ex-PGMOL chief Keith Hackett for a ‘nonsense’ decision he made during the Champions League final between Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain.

Arsenal went into the match as the underdogs, but they took an early lead when Kai Havertz slammed the ball into the roof of the net from close range.

Reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain were given a golden opportunity to restore parity in the second half when they were awarded a penalty. Ousmane Dembele made no mistake from 12 yards.

Neither side could find a winner as the match went all the way to penalties. The French giants held their nerve in the shootout as they prevailed to retain their title.

Champions League Final Referee Slammed

Siebert has been slammed for prematurely blowing his whistle to signal the end of the first half.

Arsenal were given a corner in the dying embers of the first half. Given Arsenal’s prowess from set-pieces, it presented a good opportunity for the Gunners to extend their lead.

However, as Bukayo Saka made his way to the corner flag to take the set-piece, Siebert changed his mind and decided there was no time remaining for the corner to be taken.

Arsenal’s players were incensed by the decision, with Steven Gerrard also calling it ‘madness’. Ex-PGMOL chief Hackett agrees with Gerrard’s take.

Speaking to Football Insider, Hackett said: “In Law five, the referee is the sole timekeeper, and his actions for me underpin the need for football to appoint an independent timekeeper.

“Good practice here is to allow play to continue and blow up when the ball is in a neutral position.

Arsenal Should Have Been Awarded Penalty, Says Hackett

Hackett also thinks that Arsenal should have been given a spot-kick in extra-time when Noni Madueke went down under a challenge from Nuno Mendes inside the box.

He said: “The referee was firm in his decision not to award a penalty kick, satisfied that no offence had taken place.

“My first thoughts were that a penalty kick should have been awarded, and I suggest that had the referee pointed to the penalty mark, VAR would not have intervened.

“The referee said no, and VAR, viewing the replays, decided that there was not a clear and obvious error by the match referee to meet the criteria to send the referee to the screen.

“Without question, I think we can all say that we have seen these given. I suspect the referee judged that the Arsenal player was doing the holding.

“Frankly, in these tight decisions, I would like the referee to have a second look to determine the accuracy of such an important call.”