Manchester City faced a 2-0 defeat against Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League, with Pep Guardiola taking full responsibility. The City manager made significant changes to the team, altering 10 players from their previous match against Newcastle United. Despite these adjustments, the Bundesliga team took advantage at Etihad Stadium.
Guardiola's decision to rotate was aimed at maintaining player well-being. "I have to accept it," Guardiola told TNT Sports. "If we win, it wouldn't be a problem, so I have to accept it that maybe it's a lot, but I think playing every two or three days, we need to [make some changes], but seeing the result, maybe it's too much. I take full responsibility. "
The average age of City's starting line-up was 24 years
and 353 days, marking their second-youngest team in a Champions League match since December 2018 against Hoffenheim. Despite the youthful squad, City managed 19 shots during the game. This is their second-highest number of attempts in a Champions League match where they failed to score since their goalless draw with Inter in September 2024.
John Stones, who led City as captain, acknowledged the need for reflection after this loss. "We weren't good enough as a collective," said Stones. "We created a lot of chances, but all in all, I think we didn't have that edge to us. The clinical edge, the aggressive edge—which is very uncharacteristic for us as a team. "
This defeat marks City's first home group-stage loss in 24 games since September 2018 when they faced Lyon. In recent times, City has lost two out of their last four home matches in the Champions League (W2), equalling the number of defeats from their previous 37 games (W30 D5).
Thank you for your support tonight. We'll see you back at the Etihad on Saturday pic.twitter.com/s6W5qN6fOO
- Manchester City (@ManCity) November 25, 2025
Guardiola's milestone of managing his 100th Champions League game with City was overshadowed by this loss. He emphasised that while his players were exceptional individually, something crucial was missing at this level of competition.
The focus now shifts to future matches as City aims to learn from this experience and improve their performance moving forward.
