MANCHESTER, England — 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.
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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.
Haaland, who came on in the 65th minute, had City’s best chance of the night, but saw his effort saved by Mark Flekken as the Germans recorded their first Champions League win in England since beating Tottenham in 2016.
There was a sense from England defender Jarell Quansah‘s post-match interview that he was quite pleased he only had to mark Haaland for 25 minutes.
“They’ve got world-class quality, and even the players who started tonight, some are world-class players playing for their countries,” said the former Liverpool man.
“It was always going to be a tough task when they [Haaland and Foden] come on as well.
“It’s an unbelievable feeling because coming into tonight, we had a lot of senior players who were absent. I think that’s what we needed; a lot of character, a lot of determination and grit.”
Asked afterwards whether Guardiola had underestimated Leverkusen, head coach Kasper Hjulmand replied: “You shouldn’t ask me about that. No matter who they put on the pitch, it is a quality team.”
The result leaves City sixth in the league phase table with 10 points from five games. Guardiola will know all about the danger that can lie in wait if you drop out of the top eight after finishing 22nd last season and drawing Real Madrid in the playoff round. He won’t want to risk something similar happening this time.
Aston Villa finished eighth last season with 16 points, so City’s destiny is still very much in their own hands. First, though, Guardiola has to pick the right team against Leeds as he looks to avoid three defeats in a row.
“Now it’s Leeds,” he said.
“We still have three games [in the league phase] and we’ll see what happens. I can’t anticipate what is going to happen in the future. We need to clear our heads and play Leeds.”
After his fringe players failed to make an impact against Leverkusen, you can bank on Guardiola bringing back his big guns at the first opportunity.