By Alan Pattullo

Copyright scotsman

Champions League managers are not paid big bucks for shrinking from making big decisions. Napoli’s Antonio Conte has never bowed to pressure from anyone. He is avowedly his own man. Still, few expected him to be a party pooper to the extent that he subbed Kevin De Bruyne just 25 minutes into the Belgian star’s homecoming at Manchester City. One could imagine the scenes of utter panic in TV studios. What are we supposed to talk about now? Sports writers had been despatched to the Etihad stadium to write solely about De Bruyne’s return. Not that Conte gave a fig. King Kev’s number was up, literally. The Napoli No.11 made his way to the dugout. It was admittedly a surprise but it did also underline just how vital Scott McTominay is to the Italian champions. Of course, no one needs this spelled out again. He’s already Serie A’s MVP. Most Vital Player. He won that award last season after being the inspiration behind their title win, which is one reason why there were back on this stage and McTominay and De Bruyne were back in Manchester. The former’s evening lasted a bit longer, which again confirmed who Conte believes is central to Napoli’s hopes. Still, not even McTominay can do much for a team who have to play the majority of the game with just ten men against hosts able to call upon the singular goalscoring talents of Erling Haaland, who scored his 50th Champions League goal to set City on their way to a 2-0 win. De Bruyne was the one sacrificed by Conte after Napoli skipper Giovanni Di Lorenzo was red carded for a despairing and oh-so-nearly immaculate challenge on Haaland. The Norwegian would have been straight through following Phil Foden’s pass that curled delightfully into his path. Di Lorenzo had to make the challenge and had he worn his slightly longer winter studs, he may well have made contact with the ball. Sadly, he hadn’t. Off he went after a VAR review. Conte needed another defender on, opting for Mathias Olivera. He might have hooked McTominay. He might have hooked Frank Anguissa. He might even have hooked lone striker Rasmus Hojlund, on loan from Man Utd. Another homecoming of sorts. He chose De Bruyne. The manager had already made plain his admiration for McTominay at a press conference on the eve of the fixture. The Italian found it hard to disguise the amused mystification he felt at being allowed to lure McTominay from not just a club like Manchester United, but also from what he described as the city of the player’s birth. This isn’t quite accurate. Lancaster is listed as McTominay’s birthplace in most literature about the midfielder. Either way, he remains a proud Scot. However, how could this be classed as anything else than a homecoming. He has been attached to the city, albeit Manchester United’s red half, since the age of seven. One must assume McTominay is still emotionally attached to the Old Trafford club despite their willingness to sell him, which was of course down to financial fair play requirements as much as anything. A win here would have been very sweet indeed. Di Lorenzo’s misfortune meant that was a long shot from midway through the opening half. But Napoli dug in, as one suspected they might, and frustrated City to the extent that Pep Guardiola was spotted furiously waving his arms about as he tried to whip the home fans up. Vanja Milinkovic-Savic was a giant in goal. When he wasn’t diving to his left or right to repel efforts, he had one directed straight at him after teammate Matteo Politano got a foot to Tijjani Reijnders’ shot. It might have gone anywhere. It went straight into the keeper’s arms. Politano celebrated like Napoli had won just won the European Cup for the first time in the club’s history. It couldn’t last. Foden’s dinked pass for Haaland to open the scoring ten minutes after half time should be preserved in a museum somewhere. The Norwegian did the necessary, flipping the ball over Milinkovic-Savic in the manner of a performing seal. He’s now reached 50 Champions League goals in quicker time than anyone else. A slaloming run from Jeremy Doku made the points safe ten minutes later. He beat two defenders before slipping the ball through Milinkovic-Savic’s legs and into the far corner. Away from the hysteria about De Bruyne, the game was notable for another meeting between McTominay and Rodri, who of course became a villain in the eyes of the Tartan Army after making some sour comments in the wake of Scotland’s 2-0 win over Spain in March 2023. The City midfielder was subbed off on the hour mark, with this weekend’s game against Arsenal in mind. McTominay played the whole 90 plus minutes. He won’t have thanked Conte for that.