Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola provided an honest assessment of his role in the club’s Champions League defeat to Bayer Leverkusen at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday
Pep Guardiola has admitted he made too many changes to his Manchester City starting lineup after his side succumbed to Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League. Goals from Alejandro Grimaldo and Patrik Schick saw the Premier League side lose as the likes of Erling Haaland started the game on the bench.
It meant back-to-back defeats for City, following their loss to Newcastle at the weekend. Guardiola made 10 changes from that team for his 100th match in charge of the club in Europe.
The gamble did not pay off for the Catalan coach, who, with City one goal behind, made three substitutes at half-time. Jeremy Doku, Phil Foden and Nico O’Reilly were introduced in place of Rayan Ait-Nouri, Rico Lewis and Oscar Bobb.
Haaland and Cherki were introduced 20 minutes later, with City scrambling for a positive result. But Guardiola could only shoulder the blame as his side slipped up at the Etihad and dropped to sixth in the Champions League group and placed themselves at risk of falling further after Wednesday’s fixtures.
“I take full responsibility,” Guardiola told TNT Sport. “Still I think the players that started were exceptional players but we missed something needed at the highest level. We now have to fight for the next games.”
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“I have to accept it,” he continued. “If we win it wouldn’t be a problem so I have to accept it that maybe it’s a lot but I think playing every two or three days we need to [make changes] but seeing the result, maybe it’s too much.”
The Spaniard later said: “I always had the belief of the long season and everyone had to be involved but maybe it was too much. They played not to make mistakes instead of doing what we had to do.
“It was not the performance that we thought. I take full responsibility. We missed something. We missed an incredible opportunity and now we need to fight in the next games.”
Leverkusen boss Kasper Hjulmand had some sympathy for Guardiola’s decision. “It is a very tight programme for all teams,” he said.
“The normal rotation for a Champions League team is five point five players, but no matter who they put on the pitch, it is a quality team.”
Tuesday evening saw Guardiola expressing contrition for the second time in as many days. The coach’s pre-match press conference on Monday saw him apologise for his actions remonstrating with Bruno Guimaraes and Joelinton at the weekend and for removing the earphone of a cameraman to shout at him.
“I apologised,” Guardiola said. “I feel embarrassed, ashamed when I see it. I don’t like it. I apologised after one second to the cameraman.
“I am who I am. After 1,000 games, I’m not a perfect person, I make huge mistakes. It’s not about that. What is for sure, I defend my team and my club, that’s for sure.
“The reason why is I want to defend my team and my club. That is no doubt. Because from my experience to win the Premier League we have to do 100 points, 98 points, otherwise we don’t win it. That’s for sure.”
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Sky has slashed the price of its Essential TV and Sky Sports bundle ahead of the 2025/26 season, saving members £336 and offering more than 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more.
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