Manchester City’s flawless Champions League streak came to a halt as they suffered a 2-0 defeat at the Etihad Stadium against Bayer Leverkusen. Pep Guardiola made 10 changes to his lineup, and the City boss openly took responsibility for the disappointing result.
Leverkusen Secures Victory with Grimaldo and Schick Goals
Alejandro Grimaldo and Patrik Schick scored to give the German side a comfortable win. The loss marks City’s first home defeat in the Champions League group stage since 2018, ending a run of 24 consecutive matches without losing at home.
Guardiola reflected on his decision to rotate the squad:
“𝑻𝒐𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒔. 𝑴𝒂𝒚𝒃𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒐𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒚, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒔 𝒔𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕. 𝑰 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝑰 𝒔𝒂𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚. 𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒂 𝒇𝒐𝒐𝒕𝒃𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔𝒏’𝒕 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚 𝒇𝒊𝒗𝒆, 𝒔𝒊𝒙, 𝒐𝒓 𝒔𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒈𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒔, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒕𝒖𝒑 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒕. 𝑴𝒂𝒚𝒃𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒐𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒚.”
Guardiola Takes Responsibility, Looks Ahead
The City manager admitted that his lineup choices were too radical, even though he believed each player performed exceptionally. “It didn’t work, and we have to accept it. It was the first time in my life that I made such a decision. I take full responsibility for the loss,” Guardiola said. “If we had won, there would have been no problem. So I accept that I have made a lot of changes to the team.”
Starting players included Erling Haaland, Ruben Dias, Bernardo Silva, and Gianluigi Donnarumma, but even their presence couldn’t prevent the setback.
Looking forward, Guardiola remains cautious but hopeful. Manchester City will face Real Madrid next month, followed by matches against Bodo/Glimt and Galatasaray. Guardiola emphasized the importance of focusing on the present:
“𝑾𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒆𝒆 𝒈𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒍𝒆𝒇𝒕, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒔. 𝑰 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒂𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒖𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆. 𝑾𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒙𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉 (𝑳𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒔) 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆.”
The defeat serves as a reminder that even the strongest teams can stumble, especially after extensive squad rotations. Guardiola’s candid admission highlights the fine balance between giving players opportunities and maintaining consistent team performance in the Champions League.
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