Manchester City 0-2 Bayer Leverkusen: Grimaldo and Schick punish Guardiola's rotation
Manchester City lost their first Champions League game of the season after Bayer Leverkusen stunned them in Pep Guardiola's landmark match.
Manchester City lost ground on their rivals in the Champions League after they lost 2-0 to Bayer Leverkusen in Pep Guardiola's 100th match in charge of them in the competition.
Alejandro Grimaldo and Patrik Schick got on the scoresheet for Kasper Hjulmand's side while the Premier League outfit were unable to find their way past a resolute Leverkusen defence, seeing them lose their first game in the competition this season.
Guardiola made 10 changes from the City side that lost to Newcastle United, with only Nico Gonzalez keeping his place, but the hosts started on the front foot as Nathan Ake and Tijjani Reijnders both tested Mark Flekken.
But it was Leverkusen who went ahead in the 23rd minute, with Christian Kofane laying the ball off for Grimaldo from Ibrahim Maza's cross, and the Spaniard found the bottom-right corner with a first-time strike.
City continued to create chances as Reijnders forced another save from Flekken before the goalkeeper also kept out a deflected cross from Oscar Bobb.
However, the Bundesliga side doubled their advantage early in the second half as Schick powered a header past James Trafford.
Erling Haaland came off the bench but failed to get the better of Flekken, while Rayan Cherki also saw a late free-kick denied by the Dutchman as Guardiola was made to rue his tactical changes.
Data Debrief: Captain Grimaldo leads the way
After a humbling 7-2 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain earlier this season in the Champions League, Leverkusen showed their grit and determination while defending against City.
The hosts produced 1.84 expected goals (xG) from 19 shots, while Leverkusen accumulated just 0.55 from seven attempts.
Grimaldo scored his eighth goal for Leverkusen in all competitions this season, the most of any player for the club in 2025-26 and twice as many as he managed last season (four in 48 appearances).
This was also the first time City have lost to a German club at home in the Champions League since 2013, when Guardiola led Bayern Munich to a 3-1 win.
