Pep Guardiola has accepted full responsibility for Manchester City’s unexpected Champions League loss to Bayer Leverkusen, admitting his heavy rotation left his side short of sharpness on a night when little seemed to fall their way.
City went into Tuesday’s match still licking their wounds from a 2-0 defeat to Newcastle at the weekend, yet Pep Guardiola opted to make ten changes to his starting line-up. Big names such as Erling Haaland, Jeremy Doku, Phil Foden, Gianluigi Donnarumma and Ruben Dias were kept on the bench, a decision that quickly came under scrutiny.
Leverkusen punished City’s disjointed start, with Alejandro Grimaldo striking before the interval. Patrick Schick added a second in the later stages, capping a strong and disciplined performance from the German side. City’s response came too late, even after Guardiola summoned Haaland, Foden, Doku and Rayan Cherki in search of a way back.
Speaking to TNT Sports after the match, the City manager did not try to dodge the criticism.
“I understand. I understand your question. Absolutely I have to accept it. I have to accept,” he said when asked about his team selection.
“If we win, it would not be a problem. I accept maybe it’s a lot, but playing every two, three, four days… But maybe it’s too much, you’re right. Seeing the result, maybe it’s too much.
“It was not the performance we thought. Maybe I’ll take full responsibility, but I still think the players who started are exceptional.
“But we missed something we needed at the highest level. It was an incredible opportunity, now we have to fight in the next games.
“They [Leverkusen] were good. In general, we also did some very good things, we had chances, half chances; always blocked, always we slipped, always there was something.
“We didn’t believe, ‘OK, it’s the moment to attack, we attack’ or ‘OK, it’s the moment to defend, we defend’. It’s not being in the position, it’s being present defensively and offensively, we have to have the determination, ‘OK, I’m going to make a move, make some situations that we can do’. Sometimes it happens.”
