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PEP GUARDIOLA'S MILESTONE NIGHT FAILS FLAT, SHOCKING UCL DISPLAY
Pep Guardiola's shocking team selection was blamed for Man City's defeat. His 10 changes led to a disastrous 100th UCL game in charge.
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Reaching 100 games should be a party, but not this time. Pep Guardiola's 100th game managing Manchester City in the Champions League was one of their worst performances, and he carries a lot of the blame.
City lost not only thanks to the manager's overconfidence and a weak team showing, but also because Bayer Leverkusen played great. Guardiola chose his backups for a match between top teams, and they failed. It was a risk that didn't work out, especially with a match against Leeds coming up. Was resting his starters worth it for a team near relegation? This loss could make things hard for City in the next stage.
City has now dropped two straight, after Newcastle beat them. They might lose their next Champions League game against Real Madrid, too. All of a sudden, this group stage looks tricky. For Leverkusen, Alejandro Grimaldo and Patrick Schick scored good goals, proving how manager Kasper Hjulmand has turned things around after Erik ten Hag's short time there.
If Leverkusen messed up hiring the former Manchester United manager, Guardiola did the same with his team choices. If he wanted to show that City isn't a one-man team, it didn't work. His substitutes weren't good, and no one stepped up. Guardiola, who has won the league in Germany three times, seemed to underestimate the recent German champions.
Maybe City's solid start in the competition, with 10 points, made him feel safe. Or maybe it was their record of not losing at home in the group stage for 23 games. Leverkusen became the first team to beat them since Lyon in 2018.
Guardiola made 10 changes, with only Nico Gonzalez staying in the starting lineup. Even he wouldn't start if Rodri were healthy. Key players were missing at the start.
Guardiola had to bring on some players during halftime, taking off others who weren't playing well. Later, more players joined. One player who usually does well against German teams didn't do much and was subbed out.
A top player came on to try to save the situation and almost kept his scoring streak going, but the Leverkusen goalkeeper made a save. The goalkeeper also saved a free kick. The subs made a difference, but the starters made it too hard.
The goalkeeper played great, but he didn't have to do much in the first half. Guardiola's starting lineup cost a lot, but City was flat. The goalkeeper made a good save, but City's backups didn't create much. Then, Leverkusen took control, and the goalkeeper made another save. Maybe it was the dullness before halftime that made Guardiola make changes, or maybe it was because Leverkusen was winning.
Leverkusen scored first. It was a great goal for one of the manager's best signings. A key player from Leverkusen's title-winning team is still there, and he helped score the second goal.
Another Leverkusen player scored as well.
Leverkusen showed that a team can win, and a team with injuries can defend well. They stayed calm and managed the game. Their Champions League started badly, with three games without a win and one 7-2 loss.
City was supposed to be tough, but this was a great win for Leverkusen. The city and Guardiola aren't used to nights like this. His team and he messed up this time.
WHY DECEMBER 2025 WAS PEP GUARDIOLA’S MOST "STATISTICALLY PERFECT" MONTH EVER
Pep Guardiola’s "most impressive month" is over. Read why Man City are now favourites to snatch the 2026 Premier League title.
It's tough to say how the 2025/26 team will stack up against Pep Guardiola's other squads from his decade at the Etihad. They've shown a lot of potential six months into the season, but trophies aren't a sure thing yet.
Still, December 2025 definitely stands out as a crazy good month in Guardiola's 95-month tenure. It's not just that the Blues are doing well in the Premier League and Champions League, but where they got those wins.
Winning at Fulham, Real Madrid, Crystal Palace, and Nottingham Forest in a single month is quite the feat. Craven Cottage might not be the scariest place, but it's a long trip for a midweek game. Plus, the other three teams have been a pain for City in recent years.
Guardiola might not be thrilled with how they won—he wants them to be consistent for the entire match and for his young players to really show who they are all the time. But getting wins at those stadiums will help his players learn as they go. Once you’ve won at the Bernabeu, not many places can intimidate you, and the Forest win was huge because City lost there badly nine months prior.
City has totally answered questions about their away game performance this season. They lost three of their four league games—against Brighton, Villa, and Newcastle—on the road. They also messed up at Monaco in the Champions League after a bad second half when they should have won. Erling Haaland was mad and stormed off after the final whistle.
Those worries are gone after a month that was one of City's best ever away from home, statistically speaking. The last time City won all their away games in a month was in early 2024/25. Before that, you’d have to go back almost two years to February 2024 to find a month where they won four.
That February 2024 team was on its way to winning a fourth straight Premier League title and reaching the FA Cup Final. Before that, it was December 2021. City never won four away games in a month during their treble season, for instance.
Part of that is just how the schedule works—there aren't always four away games in a month. And once April and May roll around, if City is still in the FA Cup, they play at a neutral site. Still, it's amazing how good their December was, picking up so many good results from tough places.
That changes things as they head into another tough month with four more away games. They're at Sunderland on New Year's Day (who haven't lost at home in the Premier League this season), then at Newcastle for the first leg of their league cup semi-final, knowing they lost there recently and haven't won there in two years.
A few days later, it's the Manchester derby, followed by a trip to Bodo as they try to finish in the top eight in the first stage of the Champions League. City has done pretty well at Old Trafford lately, but derbies are always tense. And a plastic field in the Arctic Circle doesn't sound easy.
But City can go into these games feeling more confident after the December they just had. No matter how much the home teams try to rattle them, Guardiola’s improving squad has proven they can get results anywhere. They’ll see the first game of the year in the Northeast as a chance to really show what they want to accomplish in 2026.
OFFICIAL REPORT: RODRI RETURNS AS MANCHESTER CITY EXTEND DOMINANT EIGHT-MATCH WINNING STREAK
Rodri returns as Manchester City extends its winning run to eight games. Discover how the Club World Cup saved City's season.
It felt right having Rodri back. Pep Guardiola talked more openly than before about how good the Club World Cup was for Manchester City. He'd said it could be a disaster for the team. Now, they see it as what got them back on track.
At the end of June, he said, The main thing is to get back to our old selves. That's my goal for this competition. I want them to feel like we're back to being competitive, like we have for most of the last decade. Then we'll see.
We'll see after the final. We'll rest as much as the Premier League allows. Maybe it'll be awful in the winter. Maybe we'll be tired, and the World Cup will have messed us up. I don't know; we've never done this before. We'll find out when we get back.
The good from the Club World Cup wasn't clear right away. City played alright against Juventus, but then had a tough loss against Al Hilal in the last 16. Plus, Rodri hurt his hamstring on a bad field during that loss, which messed up his recovery from his ACL injury.
In September, Rodri started three games in a week against United, Napoli, and Arsenal. That wore him out, and he soon got another hamstring issue at Brentford, keeping him out for about ten weeks.
It might not be fair, but it doesn't seem like the Club World Cup helped Rodri get better. His being back in the team at the City Ground hints at a better second half of the season.
When he's back on the field, he'll join a team that's figured out how to win and fight for the league title without him. City has won their last eight games in a row in all competitions. Their longest streak since winning the Club World Cup. Guardiola mentions that the team has rediscovered the identity he wanted.
Despite worrying about the tournament and the problems that came up, FIFA's power move has given City a chance to reset, which they really needed to get back to full strength.
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