De Bruyne, Hojlund Spark Napoli's UCL Win After Manchester Disappointments

Streaking across the pitch in a sky-blue jersey, evading challenge after challenge, driving forward with the ball before releasing a perfectly weighted pass to a tall, blonde, Scandinavian striker, who finished with aplomb past a helpless goalkeeper.

Kevin de Bruyne had been here before.

Except the sky-blue jersey now belonged to Napoli instead of Manchester City, and the striker he was supplying was Rasmus Hojlund, not Erling Haaland.

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Having won everything there was to be won with Manchester City, there were only wistful tears when De Bruyne left City for Napoli over the summer. Joining the Serie A champions on a free transfer, the Belgian midfielder outlined his desire to remain competitive at the highest level in his first press-conference in Naples.

Handed the iconic no.10 shirt, made famous by Diego Maradona, De Bruyne's start to life in Southern Italy was mixed. He'd scored thrice, but two were penalties, and was substituted in four of six appearances, with critics saying he was blunting the effectiveness of last season's Serie A MVP, Scott McTominay. The mix wasn't working, like adding pineapple to the Neapolitan pizza Conte had cooked to perfection last season.

It reached a crescendo over the weekend. Napoli were trailing to ten-man AC Milan, when Antonio Conte chose to take the Belgian off in the 72nd minute. De Bruyne did not take that well, appearing to make a displeased gesture towards his Italian coach as he made his way to the bench. Napoli went on to lose that game, and Conte was less than impressed, saying "I hope he was irritated at the result. Because if he was irritated about something else, he's dealing with the wrong person."

To their credit, both Conte and De Bruyne cleared the air immediately, with the Belgian saying "There was never any problem. I'm a winner. I want to play football. I want to make the difference. Everything has been said. There's no issue."

For thirty-five minutes against Sporting on Wednesday, Napoli laboured against their Portuguese opponents, who had never won any of their 17 games on Italian soil. Conte's side were defending deep, as Joao Simoes and Morten Hjulmand buzzed around the edge of the box in Sporting's midfield. Trying to be a bit too intricate, the pair conspired to lose the ball.

There wasn't any real danger - but this was Kevin de Bruyne.

Popping the ball back to Zambo Anguissa to evade the onrushing Simoes, the Belgian's quick 1-2 with his teammate in midfield saw him run beyond Hjulmand and Simoes' press into a bit of space. The Diego Armando Maradona stadium could sniff the potential danger.

Collecting the return pass at full tilt, De Bruyne charged forward, a quick shift of the hips leaving Sporting centre-back Eduardo Quaresma in a heap, the defender's outstretched leg simply skipped over with ease. The sight was classic De Bruyne, in an instant, defence had been turned into attack and the opposition was left chasing shadows.

The stadium rose, both physically and in noise, as the no.10 drove forward with the ball, in defiance of the aged 34-year-old legs carrying it. Up ahead, 22-year-old Rasmus Hojlund was making the exact same run De Bruyne had seen Sergio Aguero and Erling Haaland make. The Belgian midfield maestro knew the exact note he had to play.

Out from his boot emerged the through pass; the timing - perfect, the weight - perfect, the direction - perfect, the backspin - perfect. He'd only done this a million times before. Hojlund didn't have to break stride, one touch to collect and his second, even better, stroking the ball under Rui Silva into the net, the finish of a Manchester United reject rejuvenated in Naples - a la McTominay.

In 12 seconds, the pair who'd left the gloom of Manchester had found new life in Naples, and De Bruyne couldn't hide the similarities to his past. "They're quite similar. Erling is Erling and what he's done in his career is unbelievable. They both like to attack the space. Erling probably a little bit more. Rasmus wants to come [meet the ball] sometimes."

There was still time for an encore. Another KDB x Hojlund joint.

The Italian remix was what earned Napoli the win. With the game at 1-1 in the 79th minute, De Bruyne took a corner short, and as the ball was recycled to him with the angle changed, he sent in another of his deliciously whipped crosses to the near post, and up leapt that blonde Scandinavian striker again, getting ahead of his marker to glance a powerful header into the net.

The Diego Armando Maradona stadium roared as only it could, once for the winning goal, and soon after for the man sporting 10 on his back as he came off to be substituted. Only smiles all around this time - maybe pineapple on pizza isn't so bad after all.