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Cape Town - Former Barcelona midfielder Xavi Hernandez described Kevin De Bruyne as the special player in Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City side.
With City on an 18-game winning streak in the Premier League, Xavi explained that Guardiola moulds his team into a holistic unit, but even the most cohesive team still needs a star.
"Pep’s teams win as teams, but even the most special sides need that player to look to when they need something special," Xavi said in The Mirror.
"At Barcelona, we had it with Messi and this team Manchester City have it with De Bruyne.
"Every time he has the ball, you get the feeling that he is going to do something special with it.
"Not every game you can win 3-0 or 4-0, especially in the Champions League and that is when you need one moment of brilliance from a special player.
"David Silva is playing the best football of his career. I can see just from watching him he is learning off Pep.
"He is not a young player anymore, but when you have a player of such intelligence and such vision, it does not matter.
"City are playing with The DNA of Barcelona, but that is no surprise. Pep has Barcelona DNA and transmits that to Manchester City.
"The football they are playing is mesmerising. They are the in-form team in Europe and as good as their players are, Pep has to take credit for the football they are playing and the form they are in."
