De Bruyne suffers high-grade thigh tear as Napoli beat Inter 3-1

Kevin De Bruyne suffered a serious right-thigh injury after converting a first-half penalty as Napoli beat Inter Milan 3-1 at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on Saturday, a result that lifted the defending Serie A champions back to the top of the table but left them without one of their key players. Napoli said tests at Pineta Grande Hospital revealed a high-grade tear of the biceps femoris muscle in De Bruyne's right thigh and that the 34-year-old has begun a rehabilitation programme. The club declined to give a return timetable.

De Bruyne opened the scoring in the 33rd minute after the referee awarded a penalty for a foul by Inter midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan on Giovanni Di Lorenzo. The Belgian struck the spotkick powerfully into the bottom corner, but immediately grabbed the back of his right thigh and was unable to continue. He was helped from the field by medical staff and taken off on a motorised stretcher. He later returned to the bench on crutches to watch the final stages of the match.

Napoli manager Antonio Conte replaced De Bruyne with Mathías Olivera. Scott McTominay extended Napoli's lead in the 54th minute with a low strike from the edge of the area, Hakan...