On Monday night, the former Manchester red-half head coach admitted his biggest fear was his side falling back to last season’s levels. Manchester’s other leading manager may have been thinking the same thing on Tuesday night.
City, who lost 2-0 to Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday, looked like the team that fell out of title contention last autumn.
Without Rodri’s commanding presence, City were once again vulnerable to their opponents’ quick attacks, but both goals came from that and the German side should have scored more. City’s attack could not match what those defensive deficiencies produced.
Of course, it was no ordinary City team. Erling Haaland did not start the game, but normally he would. And Josep Guardiola has rotated all but one of his squad to face a team ranked third in the Bundesliga table. The City manager has rarely made so many changes outside of the Carabao Cup, and even he himself admitted after the match that “10 changes may have been too many”.
Erling Haaland came on in the second half but couldn’t score for Man City.
But this is Guardiola’s City, a manager once famous for his “Pep Roulette” rotation policy. City used to be a team that could leave players in their prime like Kevin De Bruyne, Rodri, John Stones and Ilkay Gundogan on the bench and still produce results with the players they took over.
This city didn’t look like that. Anyone who thinks City are back on track and on track to win a fourth consecutive league title will likely revert to that view after losing in recent days.
And City did not field a squad of young players against Leverkusen. Nine of the starting XI are likely to represent their country at this summer’s World Cup, but the exceptions are Rico Ruiz and Nico Gonzalez, who are part of a large domestic talent pool in their respective positions.
Man City’s team will face Leverkusen on Wednesday night
These are the players City have in reserve in case an injury occurs, in a season where it seems like every team has injuries.
Many feel that City are too reliant on Haaland – his second-highest score in the league this season remains a Maxime Esteve own goal – and Tuesday night’s game will fuel that debate.
City’s best moment came in the 25 minutes after the Norwegian came on. Despite playing just over a quarter of the games, his personal xG record of 0.62 was the best of any player on the pitch.
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Clinton Morrison discusses whether manager Josep Guardiola’s team rotation during Manchester City’s Champions League loss to Leverkusen exposed an over-reliance on Haaland.
However, at the moment City appear to lack the depth needed to maintain a consistent level of play every three days, a situation they will face for all but one week between now and mid-January.
Guardiola may have to choose between the Premier League and the Champions League, and as we saw against Leverkusen, the outcome of one could supersede the outcome of the other.
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Josep Guardiola has blamed his drastic changes for Man City’s home defeat to Bayern Leverkusen in the Champions League.
City’s manager made the decision this week – making 10 changes against Leverkusen and making it clear that Saturday’s game against Leeds is a priority, with his side already seven points clear of Premier League leaders Arsenal. As he said of the Gunners last week: “If they manage to close the distance on points it will be difficult to catch up.”
But now defeat against Leverkusen means the Champions League has to become No. 1 in his thoughts at some point – especially if they lose away to Real Madrid in their next European game and lose their place in the top eight.
Man City’s team will face Leverkusen on Wednesday night
And if they miss out on direct qualification to the last 16 of the Champions League, they will have to play more midweek games in February, putting stress on the team at a more important time of the season.
Meanwhile, the teams at the top of the Premier League and Champions League are sitting without too much worry. And there was a certain irony in City’s home defeat at this stage of the European competition on Tuesday.
The last time City lost a Champions League group stage or league phase match at home was in September 2018. Mikel Arteta, more than anyone else, led City’s side into that game as Guardiola was banned from the touchline.
Arteta admitted after the game that he was not yet ready to take the hot seat and claimed he did not even know how to give the team talk at half-time.
Mikel Arteta took charge of Man City on the day the club last lost a Champions League group stage or league phase match
But on Wednesday night, Arteta will take on Bayern Munich with an Arsenal team among the favorites to win the Champions League, but one that has already proven able to cope with multiple competitions and setbacks.
If Arsenal were able to replace Ebelesi Eze and Martin Odegaard, Luiz would be Phil Foden’s back-up. Guardiola switched it back on at half-time.
The rising Oscar Bobb will replace Rayan Cherki when Arteta has at his disposal two of England’s best right-wingers in Bukayo Saka and Noni Madueke. With Rayan Ait-Nouri coming off the bench and being sent off yet again, Arsenal’s most likely position appears to be left-back. There are many other examples.
Arteta could make some changes against Bayern and still keep his team competitive. Arteta seems to have what Pep is currently lacking.
