Man City’s squad issues were made apparent in Leverkusen loss

Manchester City’s fringe players haven’t seen much action recently. And after the 2-0 defeat to Bayer Leverkusen in the UEFA Champions League, it might be a while before head coach Pep Guardiola uses them again.

The City boss made 10 changes in response to Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to Newcastle United. Guardiola said he would have made 11 if he could, but with Rodri still sidelined, Nico González kept his place.

It was a gamble that didn’t pay off. With Erling Haaland, Phil Foden, and Gianluigi Donnarumma watching from the bench, the Bundesliga club took advantage of a rusty City team to score first and go in at halftime 1-0 up.

Guardiola had already seen enough after 45 minutes, and at the break, Rayan Aït-Nouri, Oscar Bobb and Rico Lewis were sacrificed for regulars Foden, Jérémy Doku and Nico O’Reilly. More of the cavalry came on in the second half, but not even Haaland’s introduction could stop Leverkusen from scoring again as City slipped to a first home defeat in the Champions League group stage or league phase since 2018.

“Too many changes,” said Guardiola afterwards.

“Maybe it was too much seeing the result. It is what it is. I take absolute responsibility. I like everybody to be involved and when they don’t play it’s tough, but maybe it was too much.

“Sometimes I like to be too nice and involve everyone. It didn’t work and I have to accept it.”

Guardiola’s decision to make wholesale changes was puzzling. A win against Leverkusen — who lost 7-2 to Paris Saint-Germain in October — would have taken the pressure off the trip to Real Madrid next month. Lose at the Bernabéu, as they did heavily last season, and City will need results against Bodo/Glimt and Galatasaray in January to finish in the top eight and go straight to the last-16.

With that in mind — and it’s easy to say in hindsight — it might have been better for Guardiola to pick a stronger team against Leverkusen and save the changes for Leeds United’s visit to the Etihad on Saturday. The squad players brought in to face the Bundesliga side will be fortunate to keep their places when the Premier League returns at the weekend. Ait-Nouri, handed just his second start since August, looked off the pace from the start.

It was a cross from his side which allowed Alejandro Grimaldo to rifle in the first goal through the legs of Abdukodir Khusanov, another who has just one other start to his name in the last two months. Ait-Nouri, signed from Wolves for £31 million in the summer, was among three players replaced at halftime. The performance didn’t get much better and early in the second half, Patrik Schick headed in Leverkusen’s second.