Conte: I felt sorry when De Bruyne was substituted against Manchester City

Antonio Conte expressed his regret over substituting Kevin De Bruyne in the match against Manchester City, which ended with Napoli losing 2-0 in the Champions League.

Napoli lost two goals to one against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium, and De Bruyne's participation against his former team ended after only 25 minutes.

De Bruyne was substituted in Napoli's first change, after Antonio Conte was forced to bring on a right-back to replace Giovanni Di Lorenzo, who received a red card in the 22nd minute.

Conte disappointed after losing to Manchester City

Conte said in statements to "Sky Italia": "Losing this way is disappointing. We prepared for the match the way we played in the first 20 minutes, and this red card ruined the game."

He added: "I don't want to say whether the decision was right or not, because I didn't see it, but playing against Manchester City with 11 against 11 is already very difficult, but we played with 10 players for 75 minutes."

He pointed out: "Fate can be cruel sometimes. Last season we only got one red card in Serie A, but here we got a red card after only 20 minutes."

Conte apologizes to De Bruyne for his substitution against Manchester City

He continued: "I felt sorry for De Bruyne; we lost his quality in the match and denied him the chance to play here against his former club at his old ground, but it was the only option after the dismissal."

He concluded: "I regret that these matches are ruined by red cards, as no one knows how things would have turned out and how the teams would have compared. I was a player, and I know that players get tired after a while, even when outnumbered to 10, so I had to bring on fresh legs."