Pep Guardiola’s selection gamble backfired as under-strength Manchester City suffered a shock 2-0 defeat against Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Guardiola surprisingly rested the majority of his stars at the Etihad Stadium, with Erling Haaland, Ruben Dias, Bernardo Silva and Gianluigi Donnarumma all left out of the starting line-up.
Leverkusen took advantage of a dismal display from Guardiola’s understudies as Alex Grimaldo put the Germans ahead in the first half before Patrik Schick netted after the break to spark grumbles of discontent from City fans at the final whistle.
For the first time in 24 games dating back 2018, City were beaten at home in the Champions League prior to the knockout stage.
It was a second consecutive loss for City after Saturday’s 2-1 defeat at Newcastle in the Premier League.
City have already lost four times in the Premier League this term to leave them seven points behind leaders Arsenal.
While their first Champions League defeat in five matches shouldn’t be fatal to their bid to reach the last 16, Guardiola will have absorbed the lesson that his reserves aren’t quite as formidable as he would hope.
His players should be equally chastened after this lacklustre surrender.