In the exciting English title race with Liverpool FC, Pep Guardiola relies primarily on Kevin De Bruyne.
“He is a special player and person.
If he's fit and mentally happy, like all of us, and can exploit his potential, there's no stopping him in this position," said the former Bayern coach after Manchester City's 3-0 (0-0) win on Wednesday evening Brighton & Hove Albion.
The Belgium international could become the deciding factor for City.
"He's been playing surprisingly well the last part of this season," said Guardiola, who absolutely needs the qualities of the former Wolfsburg player in attacking midfield.
Like that of national player Ilkay Gündogan: "One step closer to the goal," Gündogan tweeted after the 24th league win.
Six games before the end of the exciting Premier League season, Manchester City is still just one point ahead of Liverpool coach Jürgen Klopp.
"We're not stupid.
If we lose just two points, Liverpool will be champions.
If we win all games, we will be champions.
We have to try to play like we did today and win all the games.
If we can do that, we'll celebrate, if not, we'll congratulate Liverpool," said Guardiola (51).
Meanwhile, Chelsea coach Thomas Tuchel is at a loss.
The third in the table, for whom it is only about qualifying for the Champions League, surprisingly lost 2: 4 (2: 2) against Arsenal FC, which was recently in trouble.
Cup finalists Chelsea - without their injured German defender Antonio Rüdiger - equalized twice through Timo Werner (17th) and César Azpilicueta (32nd).
"We scored five of the six goals we scored ourselves," said Tuchel, who was also self-critical.
“The tactical solutions were not ideal.
We have to find a solution.
I don't have any at the moment."