Manchester City suffered a shock 2-0 defeat against Bayer Leverkusen at the Etihad Stadium in the fifth round of the Champions League group stage.
This match marked Pep Guardiola’s 100th Champions League game as Manchester City manager, and it didn’t go as planned. It also saw Omar Marmoush make his first start since recovering from injury last October.
Guardiola made 10 changes to his starting lineup following the team’s Premier League defeat to Newcastle on Saturday, but the decision backfired disastrously, as the team suffered their second consecutive loss.
Leverkusen showed signs of pace on the counter-attack and were rewarded when Cristian Cuevani passed the ball back to captain Alejandro Grimaldo, who expertly volleyed it into the net.
The joy of Kasper Hjulmand’s men grew when they doubled their lead in the 54th minute, with Czech striker Patrik Schick rising high to head home a pinpoint cross from Ibrahim Maza.
City’s star striker Erling Haaland was brought on in the 60th minute and almost made an impact 10 minutes later when he met Phil Foden’s pass, but he failed to score for the second consecutive match.
This victory is only Leverkusen’s second in five Champions League matches this season, but it’s a crucial one, lifting them to 13th place in the table and securing their place in the play-off round of 16.
For City, this defeat drops them to sixth place, and they could find themselves outside the top eight if Wednesday’s results go against them.
