Haaland cavalry act can’t save City from Leverkusen shock

You had to go back to September 2018 for the last time Manchester City lost a Champions League group match at home, when Pep Guardiola was in the stands due to a ban, and Nabil Fekir’s winner gave Lyon a 2-1 victory.

- Jamie Jackson

Alex Grimaldo gleefully puts Bayer Leverkusen ahead of City

Guardiola stood down all but one of the team that lost at Newcastle United and witnessed Bayer Leverkusen end a 23-match run in the type of off-colour display reminiscent of last season.

Why the manager rested so many, including Erling Haaland and Phil Foden, is intriguing considering the Newcastle reverse was on Saturday and there are four days until Leeds visit.

Kasper Hjulmand’s side prospered on the break and in space City’s leaky defence allowed, as Alejandro Grimaldo fired them into an opening period lead doubled by Patrik Schick after the break.

Beyond Guardiola’s tinkering, the wider truth is that City are no relentless winning-machine as they once were.

Guardiola considered a rejig of his formation that had Tijjani Reijnders and Rico Lewis as the attacking midfield pair behind a frontline of Oscar Bobb, Omar Marmoush, and Savinho.

It was a centre-back - Nathan Aké - who went close when torching a shot at goal from a Reijnders corner on the left: Mark Flekken somehow beat the ball away from bulging the goalkeeper’s top left corner.