Pep Guardiola expressed that he may have been “too nice” to his fringe players after he made 10 changes to the lineup, leading to Manchester City‘s unexpected 2-0 loss to Bayer Leverkusen.
This defeat marked the first time City lost a home match during the Champions League group stage or league phase since 2018, with goals from Alejandro Grimaldo and Patrik Schick being the scorers.
After the match, Guardiola acknowledged that the number of changes he implemented was “too much,” suggesting he should have been more decisive in keeping squad players on the bench.
“Too many changes,” Guardiola remarked. “Perhaps it was excessive, especially given the result. I take responsibility for it, but I like to involve everyone. When players don’t play for five, six, or seven games, it’s tough, but maybe it was simply too much this time.
“I tend to be too nice and want everyone involved. It backfired, and we must accept that. It was the first time in my life I’ve done something like this, and it was excessive.”
This result adds pressure on City ahead of their upcoming match against Real Madrid next month.
Guardiola’s squad has additional fixtures against Bodo/Glimt and Galatasaray in January, as they aim for a top-eight finish, hoping to avoid a repeat of last season’s 22nd-place finish that led to a playoff round matchup against Real Madrid.
“We still have three games left, and we will see what happens,” Guardiola said. “I don’t speculate on the future. For now, it’s about clearing our heads and focusing on the upcoming match against Leeds.”