🤯 Leverkusen end Man City's incredible Champions League run | OneFootball

Pep Guardiola gambled with his starting lineup in the Champions League against Bayer Leverkusen. Ten changes compared to the league match were apparently a bit too much rotation.

The 0-2 defeat against the Werkself also marks the end of an incredible home streak for the Skyblues in group or league phase matches of the Champions League. After 23 home games, this run is now history. 

To give you an idea of how long ago that actually was: During the last City defeat at the Etihad Stadium, a certain Vincent Kompany was still on the bench as an active player, and Leroy Sané was substituted in just like Sergio Agüero.

On August 19, 2018, Olympique Lyon celebrated a 1-2 away victory in Manchester. Pep Guardiola was in the stands due to a suspension from the previous season. He was represented by then-assistant coach Mikel Arteta.

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Strictly speaking, Pep's personal home streak continues. However, the defeat still bothered the Spaniard: "It was not the performance we expected. Maybe I take full responsibility, but I still think the players who started are exceptional," said the 54-year-old to 'TNT Sports'. "But we lacked something that is needed at the highest level. It was an incredible opportunity, now we have to fight in the next games."

The path to the record would have been quite a long one for Manchester City. This is held by FC Barcelona, who did not lose a single home game in the Champions League group stage between September 2013 and November 2020. Of the 38 matches, Blaugrana even won 34 and shared the points four times. Probably a record for eternity. City, in any case, will now make the next attempt. 

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.

📸 OLI SCARFF - AFP or licensors