Manager Pep Guardiola was disappointed about Manchester City’s Champions League defeat and delivered a fierce criticism of his players after his heavily rotated side slumped to a 2-0 home loss against Bayer Leverkusen.
The Spaniard, who made 10 changes to his starting XI, did not conceal his frustration, accusing his team of failing to show initiative or competitive edge on a night that saw City suffer their first home defeat in the group stages for seven years.
Guardiola’s statement was unusually sharp. Asked whether the result served as a reminder of the pressures associated with competing for top honours, he gave a blunt appraisal focused not on the scoreline but on the manner of the performance.
“We know the competition is tough,” he said, according to Sky Sports. “It’s not about, of course, disappointing results, but always I’m talking most in the performance and of course the results help to have better performance.
“But I’m not that disappointed about [the defeat to] Newcastle, but the last one [against Leverkusen], for my decisions and we didn’t try. Simple as that.”
The City boss suggested the players given rare starts were overly cautious, more concerned with avoiding errors than creating meaningful moments, and he made clear that this approach deeply displeased him.
It took only minutes for his frustration to surface at the Etihad Stadium; the manager could be seen urging his side to move the ball quicker as Leverkusen imposed themselves early.
But the call for urgency went largely unanswered. The German club controlled long stretches of the match, exploiting City’s passive rhythm and lack of incision.
The defeat followed a weekend Premier League loss away at Newcastle, and although Guardiola insisted he was not deeply upset about that earlier result, he said the midweek performance crossed a different line.
The manner of the Leverkusen loss appeared to trouble him more than the outcome itself, which is significant given City’s generally calm response to setbacks in recent seasons.
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This was Manchester City’s first home defeat in the Champions League group or league phase since September 2018, when Lyon won 2-1 in a match where Guardiola was serving a touchline ban and his assistant Mikel Arteta took charge.
On this occasion, however, Pep Guardiola was disappointed about the latest Manchester City’s Champions League defeat after having the full view from the technical area and little of what he saw encouraged him.
By opting for many changes, he left out key figures including Erling Haaland, Phil Foden and Jeremy Doku, instead offering opportunities to several squad players and younger talents.
But the decision backfired. Rather than injecting freshness, the reshuffled side appeared disjointed, short of rhythm and lacking the bite required at elite level.
Guardiola’s criticism was notably direct. He said the team “didn’t try”, a rare and pointed statement that underscored how flat he believed the display to be.
It also hinted at his disappointment that some of his players including Savinho and Oscar Bobb—did not seize the chance to stake a claim for more regular involvement.
