Pep Guardiola’s 100th Champions League match in charge of Manchester City ended in a shock 2-0 defeat to Bayer Leverkusen after the manager made a massive 10 changes to his starting XI.
The loss came courtesy of goals from Alejandro Grimaldo and Patrik Schick, with the heavily rotated City side appearing disjointed and sluggish.
Guardiola took “full responsibility” for the self-inflicted defeat, admitting that rotating so heavily “maybe it was too much,” but defended the decision as necessary for the “long season.”
The result puts City under pressure as they head into a crucial European fixture against Real Madrid on December 10th.
Leverkusen boss Kasper Hjulmand hailed the victory as “a night to remember,” capitalising on the unexpected line-up.
