Man City vs Bayer Leverkusenon Tuesday evening was worse than expected, with Manchester City losing the champions league game against Bayern Leverkusen in a shocking 2-0 loss, which marks the 100th match with the clubs in the competition drawing the club in the most less expected way. Rather than celebrating the achievement with an ordinary win at home, Manchester City gave a flat performance following the decision by Guardiola to change the starting lineup 10 times, a decision that he later confessed to being maybe too much. City is now left on the brink of a very important trip to Real Madrid on 10 December.
The opening of Man City vs Bayer Leverkusen was rather marked by uncertainty on the part of the mansion. After losing to Newcastle in the Premier League on Saturday, Guardiola made an effort to rotate the team by resting several of his main players Erling Haaland, Phil Foden and Rayan Cherki, who were all benched on Sunday. The transitions broke the City formation and the game pace and the team appeared to be out of place. Leverkusen, in his turn, got confidence due to the sudden formation and organised and disciplined their plan.
Following the game, Guardiola even took the blame and said: I have to accept it. Maybe it was too much. they played because they were not to commit mistakes rather than do what we had to do. He was quoted saying that the reason was related to the long season, fixtures were set at approximately every few days and he had to use the entire squad, but the extent of changes was related to the performance. He also acknowledged that the result was a lost opportunity and that City had to retaliate within the remaining group matches.
Leverkusen has spent most of his time in a travel moment and is only arriving in Manchester after an incident on their aircraft when the plane in Germany had a problem like a plane that being compelled them to fly back to the airport of departure, which delayed his arrival. There was also the unavailability of some of the senior players such as Edmond Tapsoba, Lucas Vazquez, and Exequiel Palacios, hence the listing of six under 19 players on the bench. Those challenges did not stop them as they were more energetic and urgent than their opponents.
Leverkusen scored the first goal after Alejandro Grimaldo had taken a direct strike outside the goal of the City goalkeeper Stefan Ortega, scoring in the goal. Towards the second half, Patrik Schick increased the theatric lead of a convincing head which won the match. Guardiola brought his senior strikers, such as Haaland and Foden, which could not have an impact on the match, and Leverkusen kept itself tight and defensively coordinated.
In the occasion of Man City vs Bayer Leverkusen, the home spectators were quite silent, which showed their discontent with the speed and oomph of the team. Omar Marmoush, Savinho and Oscar Bobb had difficulty in making opportunities and City had registered limited noteworthy attempts.
Kasper Hjulmand, the Leverkusen manager, was hailing his team and he said: This is a great win and it is a great character we have demonstrated. It is a memorable night and a significant outcome on our development. We were fearless and composed and there were times when we had to rely on fortune and effective goalkeeper. Defender Jarell Quansah said the performance was about team work and determination especially because the senior players were not present.
Lastly, the match Man City vs Bayer Leverkusen has created a lot of pressure on the side of Guardiola before the last group matches. City does not have to wait until they are qualified to do this but instead they must now deliver a result against Real Madrid in Spain so as to stabilise their campaign. Guardiola acknowledged that he will receive criticism afterward but pointed out that the team must be professional in their answers.
To summarize, the game of Man City vs Bayer Leverkusen became a warning call about the danger of the large-scale rotation in big matches. The loss puts doubts on the coming stage of the tournament and Manchester City needs to concentrate on recovery, rest and production of greater performance in Madrid.
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