De Bruyne not guaranteed to start his final home game for Man City

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Manchester City great Kevin De Bruyne will make his Etihad Stadum farewell on Tuesday, though Pep Guardiola is not promising a start for the Belgium playmaker with Champions League qualification on the line.

The 33-year-old De Bruyne, who is leaving City at the end of the season after 10 years at the club, played the full match in the 1-0 loss to Crystal Palace in the FA Cup final on Saturday.

With the Premier League home match against Bournemouth coming three days later, Guardiola has to balance sentiment with an assessment on De Bruyne’s fitness levels when it comes to whether he plays the midfielder in City’s final home game of the season.

Indeed, speaking at a news conference Monday, Guardiola wasn’t even prepared to say if De Bruyne — one of City's greatest ever players — will feature at least as a substitute.

“Kevin will get what he deserves, and what he deserves is the best moment and the best compliment for his incredible trajectory and what he has done with the incredible other legends in this club,” Guardiola said.

Guardiola said he is purely thinking about fielding “the best players to win the game against Bournemouth.”

“What Kevin will want is that we win the game to qualify for the Champions League next season,” the manager added. “This is what Kevin wants, it could not be otherwise.”

City’s final league game is at Fulham on Sunday.

The defending champions’ unprecedented run of four straight league titles came to an end this season and they are now battling to just get into the Champions League.

City will start the game against Bournemouth in sixth place, a point behind third-place Newcastle, fourth-place Chelsea and fifth-place Aston Villa. Only the top five will secure a Champions League spot.

Given City’s goal difference, four points should be enough from its final two games to seal a top-five finish.

City has qualified for the Champions League every year since 2011-12.

“If we are not there, we don't deserve it and we play the Europa League,” Guardiola said. "So it is what it is. But I'm thinking we're going to qualify."

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Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne acknowledge fans after losing the FA Cup final between Manchester City and Crystal Palace at the Wembley Stadium in London, Saturday, May 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Ian Walton)

DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Isaiah Evans scored 21 points and had a critical 3-pointer with 1:15 left to help No. 6 Duke beat No. 24 SMU 82-75 on Saturday.

Evans slipped to the left side for the 3-pointer off a feed from freshman star Cam Boozer to make it 76-70, a repeat of the play that sent Duke past Florida when he hit a late 3 here in December.

Patrick Ngongba II tied his career high in scoring with 17 points for Duke (15-1, 4-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), while Boozer had 18 points — including muscling up his own interior basket to give Duke a 73-68 lead shortly before Evans' big shot.

Duke shot 49% and won its 25th straight home game.

Jaden Toombs had 23 points on 10-for-12 shooting to lead the Mustangs (12-4, 1-2), who started the week by entering the AP Top 25 poll for the first time since the end of the 2016-17 season before losing at Clemson on Wednesday.

The Mustangs had to play this one without leading scorer Boopie Moller, a 20.6-point scorer who was a game-time decision because of illness.

But SMU scored the game's first 11 points and gave Duke fits all day, shooting 56.6% and thrice getting within one possession in the final 4 1/2 minutes. The Mustangs' biggest problem was turnovers; they had 21 that led to 21 points for the Blue Devils.

At halftime, Duke marked the 25th anniversary of the program's 2001 NCAA championship, with former NBA players Shane Battier, Carlos Boozer, Mike Dunleavy and Jay Williams joining retired Hall of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski at midcourt during the presentation. Boozer's twin sons, Cam and Cayden, both play for Duke.

SMU: The Mustangs host Virginia Tech on Wednesday.

Duke: The Blue Devils make their first cross-country ACC trip when they visit California on Wednesday.

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Duke's Dame Sarr (7) is fouled by SMU's Jaden Toombs, left, during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in Durham, N.C., Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Ben McKeown)