Germans are the first to defeat the English giants in the current edition of the Champions League.
A surprise in Manchester, where City, without any Portuguese players in action, suffered their first defeat in the Champions League. The “executioner” was Bayer Leverkusen, who won 2-0 with captain Alejandro Grimaldo in the spotlight.
In a match refereed by Portuguese João Pinheiro, Guardiola made a revolution in the starting eleven, after the defeat in Newcastle in the Premier League , but the changes did not improve the team.
At halftime, the Germans were indeed winning 1-0, with former Benfica player Grimaldo scoring in the 23rd minute, putting City on high alert. In the second half, English players Doku, Phil Foden, and Erling Haaland came on, but the night belonged to Bayer Leverkusen, who made it 2-0 through Patrick Shick in the 54th minute.
Manchester City had more than twice as many shots as their opponents, hit the woodwork once, but ultimately failed to score in a game where little went right for the English side, who remain on 10 points in the table.
As for the Pharmacists, they added their second consecutive victory in the Champions League group stage, after their triumph at Benfica’s home ground , reaching eight points and temporarily overtaking Sporting, who host Club Brugge on Wednesday .