10 changes to Man City’s starting XI
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After Manchester City’s Champions League defeat against Bayer Leverkusen, coach Pep Guardiola identified his XXL rotation in the lineup as the reason for the bankruptcy. After making ten changes to the starting line-up and leaving top scorer Erling Haaland (25) on the bench for a long time, the star coach took the blame: “It’s the first time in my life that I’ve done it. There were too many changes. It was my instinct – but I failed.”
In the first Champions League duel with the top English club, the Werkself secured a surprising 2-0 away win. For Guardiola it was the 100th game in the premier class as City coach – and the first defeat in the competition this season. “We have a full program and a game every two or three days. We are in a good position and I thought we would try,” said Guardiola, explaining his many changes to the starting line-up. But the result is clear: “It didn’t work.”
Guardiola took responsibility for the defeat, but he also spoke of his team not having the necessary conviction: “We didn’t have the determination to do anything.” The players tried “not to make mistakes instead of doing what we had to do. If you don’t think about punishing the opponent, you’re not relaxed – with or without the ball.” In the previous four games, Man City won three times and drew one. With ten points, the Skyblues are on course for the round of 16. Next matchday they will be visiting Real Madrid (December 10th).