Sports
Kevin De Bruyne Slams Former Manager Antonio Conte After His Napoli Exit
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:
“Obviously it was difficult for me because Conte has a very different vision of football to mine. In truth, I never had the opportunity to play in my preferred position. In any case, I always tried to give my all for the team.”
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.
“I found that a pity. Football needs to be enjoyable, and unfortunately I found that aspect lacking. There’s no point beating around the bush, we have different visions of football. I never got to play in my position under Conte.”
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.
Vitinha’s comments about Arsenal are being widely shared following Paris Saint-Germain’s victory in the Champions League final on Saturday afternoon.
PSG came from a goal down at the Puskas Arena in Budapest, Hungary, to retain their title.
Ousmane Dembele’s second half penalty cancelled out Kai Havertz’s early opener. PSG then held their nerve in the penalty shootout to lift the Champions League trophy for the second consecutive season.
Vitinha played the full game and was named Player of the Match for his all-action display in the middle of the pitch. After the match, he spoke his mind about Arsenal’s style of play.
Vitinha Speaks Out About Arsenal’s Time Wasting
Following the match, Joao Neves criticised Arsenal’s style of play, saying that ‘PSG were the only team that wanted to play.’
His partner in crime in the middle of midfield, Vitinha, also spoke out about Arsenal’s style of play, claiming that they ‘waste a lot of time.’
He told TNT Sports: “You have to be patient when you’re up against a team like that. We knew it was going to happen, but even more so after Arsenal’s goal, since you really have to be patient.
“It’s difficult because you see the clock ticking away, it’s a final, you want to win and they waste a lot of time on everything: throw-ins, goal kicks, everything. And it’s very difficult because if you fall into that trap… you lose your cool.
“So, a lot of patience, two very compact lines, sometimes with six at the back, and it’s difficult because you want to make a decisive pass, you want to break that down, and you can’t because that’s exactly what they want, so you have to go wide, make runs without the ball.
“And that’s what the coach talked about at halftime, and I also think there was a little more space in the second half, and we took advantage of that very well, we got the penalty, and after that, the game was ours.”
He added: “We expected it, we really did. We knew it would turn out this way, especially after Arsenal scored so early. Like I said, we had the patience, waited for the right moment, and had other chances that could have sealed the game. I think we’re the deserved winners.
“Arsenal is a very good team, very competitive and tough, but based on what we did today and throughout the Champions League, we deserve to win.”
Luis Enrique: PSG Deserved to Win
PSG manager Luis Enrique was complimentary of his opponents but thinks his side deserved to win the match. He told TNT Sports:
”The match started the best way for them, they scored in a lucky action, and after that it was a pleasure for them as they know how to defend, so it was very tough.
”We are used to attacking in that way with a lot of players behind the ball. We deserved to draw the match, and in the end we’re happy to win the trophy.”
On how he felt during the shoot-out, Enrique continued: ”I’ve tried to just enjoy it, because you need luck to win on penalties, but I thought we showed great quality in terms of our penalty kicks as well as from the goalkeeper.
”It’s amazing. I think we deserved [to win]. I think today both teams deserved to win, but the way we’ve played the whole season I think we deserved to win the Champions League. We are very lucky and very happy and we’ll try to be there next season. Why not?”
Arguably the most heated storyline in all of modern-day professional wrestling came to a head on Saturday night as ‘The Real’ El Grande Americano defeated ‘The Original’ El Grande Americano in a ‘Mask vs Mask’ match.
The two Superstars have been feuding for months, with many of their battles taking place on WWE Monday Night Raw. However, it is in Mexico where the rivalry has really captured the imagination of fans.
What started out as a parody character on weekly television transformed into a culturally significant figure via the WWE-owned AAA promotion in Mexico.
The El Grande Americano Character Explored
Initially designed as a gimmick to antagonise WWE’s luchadors on Raw, El Grande Americano was positioned as an obnoxious heel who many felt was mocking American culture.
Determined to push the character, WWE gave him a number of high profile wins, including a victory over Rey Fenix at WrestleMania 41. El Grande Americano then began to appear in AAA where he was pushed as one of the promotion’s top stars.
When the man under the mask got injured in the summer of 2025, though, WWE decided they didn’t want to lose the character from television. As a result, they took the unusual step of recasting the Superstar.
The mask was handed to Ludvig Kaiser, who looked absolutely nothing like the first El Grande Americano. Fans were immediately it on the ‘secret’, but when Kaiser started using the character to geniunely promote Mexican culture, the people took him to their hearts.
As a result, ‘The Real’ El Grande Americano became the most popular Superstar in all of AAA, something that didn’t sit well with the original man under the mask.
Ever since ‘The Original’ El Grande Americano returned at this year’s Royal Rumble, the duo have been on a collision course, with a ‘Mask vs Mask’ match always being the logical conclusion to their feud.
The match was briefly threatened by Kaiser’s recent arrest, but the German-born Superstar was able to get clearance to return to Mexico in order to perform.
‘The Original’ El Grande Americano Unmasked
The high-stakes contest headlined the first night of the AAA Noche de los Grandes special at Arena Monterrey in Mexico. A rabid crowd was in attendance to witness the culmination of the El Grande Americano civil war.
After a heated No Disqualification match, it was Kaiser’s ‘Real’ El Grande Americano who got his hand raised, meaning it was time for ‘The Original’ to unmask.
In what had always been an open secret, the originator of the El Grande Americano character was revealed to be Chad Gable. However, the seriousness with which the crowd and Gable himself treated the moment made it truly special.
Gable had his family by his side as he unmasked, with the crowd immediately chanting his name as soon as his face was visible. The former US Olympian looked highly emotional as he spoke to the fans in Spanish to confirm his true idenitity.
Handing his mask to his opponent, Gable declared:
“I will always be the original El Grande Americano, but, from now on, you are the ONLY El Grande Americano!”
Although he has been unmasked, the success of the storyline is likely to see Gable remain a part of AAA.
Arguably the most heated storyline in all of modern-day professional wrestling came to a head on Saturday night as ‘The Real’ El Grande Americano defeated ‘The Original’ El Grande Americano in a ‘Mask vs Mask’ match.
The two Superstars have been feuding for months, with many of their battles taking place on WWE Monday Night Raw. However, it is in Mexico where the rivalry has really captured the imagination of fans.
What started out as a parody character on weekly television transformed into a culturally significant figure via the WWE-owned AAA promotion in Mexico.
The El Grande Americano Character Explored
Initially designed as a gimmick to antagonise WWE’s luchadors on Raw, El Grande Americano was positioned as an obnoxious heel who many felt was mocking American culture.
Determined to push the character, WWE gave him a number of high profile wins, including a victory over Rey Fenix at WrestleMania 41. El Grande Americano then began to appear in AAA where he was pushed as one of the promotion’s top stars.
When the man under the mask got injured in the summer of 2025, though, WWE decided they didn’t want to lose the character from television. As a result, they took the unusual step of recasting the Superstar.
The mask was handed to Ludvig Kaiser, who looked absolutely nothing like the first El Grande Americano. Fans were immediately it on the ‘secret’, but when Kaiser started using the character to geniunely promote Mexican culture, the people took him to their hearts.
As a result, ‘The Real’ El Grande Americano became the most popular Superstar in all of AAA, something that didn’t sit well with the original man under the mask.
Ever since ‘The Original’ El Grande Americano returned at this year’s Royal Rumble, the duo have been on a collision course, with a ‘Mask vs Mask’ match always being the logical conclusion to their feud.
The match was briefly threatened by Kaiser’s recent arrest, but the German-born Superstar was able to get clearance to return to Mexico in order to perform.
‘The Original’ El Grande Americano Unmasked
The high-stakes contest headlined the first night of the AAA Noche de los Grandes special at Arena Monterrey in Mexico. A rabid crowd was in attendance to witness the culmination of the El Grande Americano civil war.
After a heated No Disqualification match, it was Kaiser’s ‘Real’ El Grande Americano who got his hand raised, meaning it was time for ‘The Original’ to unmask.
In what had always been an open secret, the originator of the El Grande Americano character was revealed to be Chad Gable. However, the seriousness with which the crowd and Gable himself treated the moment made it truly special.
Gable had his family by his side as he unmasked, with the crowd immediately chanting his name as soon as his face was visible. The former US Olympian looked highly emotional as he spoke to the fans in Spanish to confirm his true idenitity.
Handing his mask to his opponent, Gable declared:
“I will always be the original El Grande Americano, but, from now on, you are the ONLY El Grande Americano!”
Although he has been unmasked, the success of the storyline is likely to see Gable remain a part of AAA.
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