No player has been more influential on Manchester City's modern era than Kevin De Bruyne. There is no question, therefore, that whenever he decides to step away from the club, the void he leaves should be filled by a statue outside the Etihad Stadium.

Pep Guardiola summed up the Belgian's influence after his virtuoso display against Crystal Palace earlier this month. "Ten years in Man City, the numbers, the presence, the consistency has been amazing," gushed the City boss, who had blown kisses towards his playmaker following his stupendous equaliser. "One of the best players in all our history of Man City."

And yet, over in Madrid, where City were visiting just days later in the Champions League quarter-finals, not everyone was convinced...

Baffling criticism

"If the current Champions League holders and the absolute reference for excellence in the Premier League is characterised by something, it is the absence of an outstanding star. The closest thing to that is the lacklustre Kevin De Bruyne, at 32 years old, the most difficult player in the group to manage," read an article in the highly-respected broadsheet newspaper El Pais.

"The player has been walking a thorny frontier for years. He combines the tendency to gain weight with the inclination to conform. Forced to multiply his mobility by rivals who increasingly sit back in response to City's offensive play, he alternates days of self-denial with days of fatigue.

"Nobody has a more lethal shot or a more surgical pass. It's just a matter of not being assaulted by dark thoughts that induce melancholy and an urgent need to play by settling in instead of assuming the difficult responsibility of getting into the opposition's danger zones to receive the ball."

Not eating at the top table

The article did point out that De Bruyne was "rediscovering his best form", but the many criticisms of him, which have barely featured in any analysis of his nine years in England, served to underline the fact that, outside of England and Belgium, De Bruyne does not get the respect he deserves. He is allowed in the room with the best players in the world, but he does not eat at the top table.

It is not known whether De Bruyne is aware of or even cares about some of the negative press he gets in Spain, but he was unable to respond on the pitch at Santiago Bernabeu after falling victim to a stomach bug and vomiting hours before the match.

He did so with another magnificent performance in the 5-1 battering of Luton, however, in a perfect tune-up performance for Wednesday's showdown at the Etihad Stadium, where he will have another chance to prove his true majesty to the rest of the world.

Astonishing goal contributions

De Bruyne's achievements in the game speak for themselves. He has won 14 trophies with City and been pivotal to five Premier League triumphs. Take his eye-watering numbers of 176 goal contributions in 251 league games, broken down into 67 goals and 109 assists.

He became the fastest player in the league's history to reach 100 assists, doing so in 237 games, 56 fewer than previous record holder Cesc Fabregas. He is just three assists away from usurping Fabregas as the league's second-highest assist-provider, and soon will only trail Ryan Giggs, who amassed 162 while with Manchester United.

Then again, Giggs spent 22 years in the Premier League. Considering De Bruyne set up 18 goals last season in the league and has six even in this injury-ravaged campaign, it would not take him too many more years to dethrone Giggs too.

Rotten luck

One reason why De Bruyne does not garner such admiration abroad is that, until recently, City were often out of the picture in the crunch stages of the Champions League, when the whole world was watching. City reached the semi-finals of the competition in his first season in 2015-16, but were hugely disappointing against Real Madrid, losing 1-0 at the Bernabeu.

They failed to reach the last four again until the 2020-21 season, when they got all the way to the final. De Bruyne was a huge factor in City reaching their first European showpiece, scoring three times between the last 16 and semis. But when it came to the final against Chelsea, luck evaded him. He clashed heads with Antonio Rudiger in the second half, fracturing his nose and one of his eye sockets. City were beaten 1-0, leaving him without a winners' medal.

De Bruyne was also one of the stars in the 2021-22 campaign, scoring in the quarter-finals against Atletico Madrid and the semi-final against Real. He was taken off in the second leg at the Bernabeu moments before City opened the scoring, and watched on helplessly as his side conceded two goals in two minutes of added-time before losing in extra-time.

The Belgian had his say when the two sides met at the same stage a year later with a lethal strike from outside the area to level the first leg before playing in his part in the destruction of Madrid at the Etihad. And yet, he endured another miserable twist of fate in the final against Inter, snapping his hamstring in the first half. City went on to win the final and complete a remarkable treble, but the heroes were Rodri and Ederson, not De Bruyne.

Haaland needs him

De Bruyne's big-game curse haunted him again when he fell ill just before the first leg at the Bernabeu, and City fans will be hoping that the only thing in his belly before the return match is a fire burning bright. So too will his team-mates.

Erling Haaland was so bad at the Bernabeu that newspaper AS didn't think he even merited a rating, describing him as "clumsy and desperate". But he was badly missing De Bruyne, his perfect partner.

De Bruyne laid on four goals for Haaland against Luton in the FA Cup and they combined effectively in the league game on Saturday, too. Madrid will obviously present more obstacles than the Hatters, and Antonio Rudiger did a number on Haaland at the Bernabeu, but the German's task will be made harder with De Bruyne around as no one knows better how to locate the Norwegian where he is at his most dangerous.

'Everything different with Kevin'

City's life will be easier with De Bruyne around, and when Bernardo Silva was asked about the brilliant Belgian before the second leg, his face lit up. "When Kevin is present, everything is different," he said. "He is one of the best players of our generation, we are not going to deny we are better with Kevin. Hopefully he is on a good day because when he is, it is difficult to stop him."

De Bruyne has continued to have good days since returning from his five-month injury layoff after undergoing hamstring surgery. He has scored four times and notched 12 assists, proving the difference in a crucial victory at Newcastle in January as well as tormenting Crystal Palace, Luton (twice) and Copenhagen.

But he has had off days too, most notably at Anfield, when he was substituted in the second half by Guardiola. That performance led to some suggestions that the double hamstring injury had taken its toll, and he was also stunted against Arsenal, although he was not the only one.

Yet he has proven time and time again that he has the vision, decision-making and raw ability to still make a difference at the highest level. There is no higher level than playing Real Madrid, and on Wednesday, De Bruyne can show once again that he belongs in the conversation of the all-time greats - and not just in the country he has called home for the last decade.