Pep Guardiola has serious questions to answer after Man City vs Bayer Leverkusen, his job is on the line
Man City supporters could only watch in complete shock as Man City slipped up to Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League.
Erling Haaland was benched for the game on Tuesday, 25 November, and so too were Jeremy Doku, Phil Foden, and Rayan Cherki. Yet, fans were expecting a simple victory at the Etihad Stadium.
With Omar Marmoush recently returning from injury, the Citizens were not without firepower in the final third, but it was almost as if the team hadn’t bothered to turn up against the Germans.
Alejandro Grimaldo opened the scoring after 23 minutes, latching onto a loose ball at the back post, before Patrick Schick doubled the visitors’ lead just nine minutes into the second half.
Man City lose back-to-back games for second time this season
Man City were fresh from losing to Newcastle United at the weekend, which was another disappointing performance from Guardiola’s team, but they can feel hard done by that result.
However, the manager has absolutely no excuses against Leverkusen due to his decisions ahead of kick-off, and he has already accepted the blame after throwing away three points.
While many supporters will quickly forgive the Catalan, some major questions have been raised over the 54-year-old’s future at the Etihad, and those voices have only gotten louder after another defeat.
It could have a lasting impact on the 2025-26 campaign, though. All three points would have all but sealed a spot in the Champions League knockout stages. Now, everything is uncertain.
Pep Guardiola puts pressure on himself after Bayer Leverkusen defeat
Man City‘s next game is against Real Madrid, a very familiar opponent after facing off six times since May 2023, and there is now huge jeopardy riding on the result at the Bernabeu.
Last season, Guardiola’s team were forced into the Champions League play-offs, eventually being knocked out by Los Blancos, and fans were furious with the under-pressure manager.
That exact situation could be about to recur at the Etihad, and it is all the more likely after Guardiola’s 10 changes from the weekend completely backfired against Leverkusen.
It was never the right time to make so many changes to the lineup and experiment against such an in-form team, but the Catalan is well known for making strange decisions in important moments.