Kevin De Bruyne comment will terrify Liverpool and Arsenal after Man City win

Kevin De Bruyne was coy about his impact since returning from injury after Manchester City cruised past FC Copenhagen 3-1 in the Champions League on Tuesday night. But his comments should strike fear into the hearts of Premier League title rivals Arsenal and Liverpool, who will understand the almighty task at hand to topple the reigning champions.

City continued their 100 per cent record in their bid to retain the Champions League in the first leg of their last-16 tie at Parken after winning all six group-stage games.

De Bruyne finally cashed in on a flurry of early City chances to open the scoring after 10 minutes before a misplaced Ederson pass helped Magnus Mattsson fire the hosts level on his debut.

But Bernardo Silva’s neat finish on the brink of half-time halted Copenhagen’s momentum, and Phil Foden added a third at the death to plant one foot in the quarter-finals.

It was an 11th consecutive win in all competitions for Pep Guardiola’s side, extending their unbeaten run to 14 outings.

De Bruyne’s return from a hamstring injury that kept him sidelined for four months has fuelled City’s unstoppable run as they enter the business end of the season.

The 32-year-old has produced two goals and five assists in seven appearances since his comeback despite only starting three times.

And he has indirectly warned Arsenal and Liverpool that his form is only going to improve once he gets more minutes in his legs, representing an ominous warning to their title aspirations.

“It’s tough. We’ve played here a couple of times, and the atmosphere is great. We had to respect them,” De Bruyne told TNT Sports.

“We started really well. We made one mistake, and they capitalised, but I thought we played really well. We scored the third goal, and it’s a little bit of an advantage now.