Kevin De Bruyne’s appetite for destruction has returned

You had to laugh. There was Pep Guardiola telling Kevin De Bruyne to keep it simple and, within four minutes of the game starting, we had Manchester City's talismanic midfielder attempting an audacious 25-yard pass with the outside of his right boot.

The night, the plaudits and the matchball may have belonged to Erling Haaland, a man hoovering up records at a frightening pace, but this was also a timely reminder of the particular joys of De Bruyne, a midfielder every bit as special as City's Nordic goal machine is a unique striker.

City's bludgeon brothers steamrollered RB Leipzig with a ferocity that at times felt cruel and unfair and, if Guardiola can harness his two most precious assets to this effect over the remainder of the competition, it will raise hopes in the blue quarter of Manchester of this finally being the season when the wait for Champions League glory ends.

De Bruyne has blown hot and cold at times this term – the incredible consistency of recent seasons punctured by some uncharacteristically flat, occasionally ragged performances – and a player who had hirthero always been indispensable to Guardiola has found himself warming the bench more than he would like or expect over the last couple of months. This, then, marked a devastating return to form.

Maybe it was little more than a coincidence that De Bruyne should play this well only a day after his manager effectively told him to smarten up, do the basics better, not turn over the ball cheaply and raise his game but it did not feel or look like a coincidence. The opposite, in truth.

De Bruyne was fired up; a man with a point to prove. On the edge, in the zone, call it what you want but that thirst for destruction was etched large on his face. Like Haaland, you could almost taste his hunger. He did not just want to win, he wanted to take a wrecking ball to his opponents, make them suffer.

It was evident in the way he pressed and powered after every ball, flew into every tackle, besieged poor Leipzig and even in the way he tore into Slavko Vincic after the referee had failed to award him a free-kick. De Bruyne was booked for his trouble. City, it is probably worth remembering, were already 6-0 up by that stage. But De Bruyne's appetite was insatiable. Perhaps Guardiola should provoke him a little more often.

When the board went up a few minutes earlier and Guardiola rung the changes, you could see De Bruyne peering over and wearing the look of a man desperate for his number not to be called. Haaland was withdrawn, and John Stones and Rodri too, but De Bruyne got his wish to carry on dispensing punishment and so Leipzig were not granted the reprieve they so desperately needed.

He was still banging the drum by the 90th minute and claimed the goal his performance richly merit, cushioning Riyad Mahrez's pass with one touch, shifting the ball to his right with a second and then bending a 20-yard finish into the top corner with his third to compound Leipzig's misery.

There is a savage beauty to watching De Bruyne take hold of a game and bend it to his will, especially when he goes for the jugular. Take his role in City's second goal – which was the perfect showcase of the relentless Haaland-De Bruyne dynamic. For De Bruyne's part in it, there are left-footed players who might have struggled to control a bouncing ball on the run as well. Then the next touch, also with his left, set up the shot, which he took on with his left and crashed against the crossbar before Haaland headed in the rebound.

When De Bruyne's tail is up, you can bet your bottom dollar that Haaland's will be too and there is something quite awe-inspiring about watching these two juggernauts unloading on defences with such pace, power and precision. It would certainly be interesting to see how other managers would utilise the pair given the chance. Would they play faster and more direct more often? Here Guardiola got the best of all worlds, a potent blend of control, control, control and fast and furious football, signed, sealed and delivered by his bludgeon brothers.