He headed his head and looked with his eyes on the goal as the ball passed by the one who was once his friend. But Kevin De Bruyne and Thibaut Courtois they are no longer friends. Between them there is a cold detachment, which covers a mutual annoyance. The reason? A triangle, a night of love between the ex-girlfriend of the Manchester City midfielder and the Real Madrid goalkeeper.

Compatriots, practically the same age (De Bruyne is 30, Courtois 29), Kevin and Thibaut grew up together. First in Genk, from 2009 to 2011, then with the national youth teams. They were inseparable, but something broke. He was the first to spill the beans De Bruyne, who reveals in his autobiography that he was betrayed by his then partner Caroline Lijnen With whom? Only with Courtois. “Thibaut made me feel like Kevin hadn’t done that in the three years of our relationship,” she says, adding spice to the case.

Yes, because Caroline reads De Bruyne’s story and gets angry. So he answers: “Kevin cheated on me and did it with my former best friend – his words in an interview with Story Magazine For months I said nothing to avoid scandals and possible legal action, as threatened by his parents. Then Kevin wrote about my relationship with Courtois and I decided to talk.’ There are also the details of the betrayal. Caroline goes to Madrid, where Courtois (with Atletico) played at the time: The two meet and she says that Thibaut “made me feel like Kevin hadn’t done it in the three years of our relationship, so I thought ‘Why not? do to me what he has done to me?

Many years have passed, meanwhile De Bruyne married Michèle Lacroix, with whom he had three children (Mason Milian, Rome and Suri), Courtois was married (to Marta Dominguez, with whom he had two children), he divorced and now has a affair with Israeli model Mishel Gerzig. In short, life went on for both of them. The treason chapter is closed, but when they do battle on the pitch, as in Manchester City-Real Madrid, that rivalry resurfaces. Every goal, for De Bruyne, as a small revenge.