Guardiola Reflects After Surprising Manchester City Defeat
Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola expressed self-criticism after the unexpected 2-0 defeat against Bayer Leverkusen. The strategist suggested that his attempt to involve all the players, making ten changes in the starting lineup, may have been a mistake. The City suffered their first home defeat in the Champions League group stage or league since 2018. Goals from Alejandro Grimaldo and Patrik Schick were decisive for Leverkusen.Guardiola admitted that the number of changes made to the starting eleven was “too much.” The coach hinted that he should have been firmer in keeping some players on the bench. The result increases the pressure on City ahead of their next match against Real Madrid next month. Guardiola’s team also has matches against Bodo/Glimt and Galatasaray in January. The goal is to finish in the top eight and avoid repeating the situation of last season, where they finished in 22nd place and faced Real Madrid in the playoff round.Too many changes. Maybe it was too much, seeing the result. I take responsibility, but I wanted to involve everyone. When you’re a footballer and you don’t play for five, six or seven games, it’s difficult, but maybe it was too much.
Pep Guardiola
We still have three games and we’ll see what happens. I don’t anticipate what will happen in the future. Now, we don’t have to talk much, clear our heads and go to Leeds.
Pep Guardiola
