Battles are raging up and down the table as the season moves towards the decisive period and De Bruyne thinks that the league is the hardest test in Europe.

The Manchester City playmaker said: "I think the league has changed a bit, the lower teams they are able to spend more money and buy more quality players.

"I feel like all 20 teams have so much quality and I think the level of difficulty of beating all these teams is getting tougher and tougher. We are second in the league, we are in three competitions, so I think if you are comparing to a lot of different years I don’t feel too different."

De Bruyne's performances have been questioned at times this season but the star thinks that his ability means that he is judged differently compared to other players.

He said: "Obviously, people have a different standard [for me] to a lot of players. It's just what it is.

"People expect me to score every game and assist every game. I think I've been playing quite well. Maybe there have been fewer assists but I don't think I've been creating less.

"I don't really look at these things. I feel fine. I think I'm playing alright - maybe not the best I've every played but it's good.

"You know the stats - I've created the most in the league and have the most assists and I've not even played four or five games. For me, it is the same. I've been doing the same thing for eight years here and 15 years in professional football so I'm feeling fine."