PLAYER RATINGS | Manchester City 0-2 Bayer Leverkusen – A depleated Leverkusen squad overcome their Premier League opponents with a shock win | OneFootball

After a weekend win against Wolfsburg, Bayer Leverkusen are looking to kick-start its Champions League campaign against Manchester City.

Compared to Bundesliga counterparts Borussia Dortmund, Leverkusen were a lot more prepared to play City, despite their depleted squad. 

Several times in the first half, die Werkself had to rely on Mark Flekken to keep the hosts out, but Leverkusen were not completely pinned in their own half and found a lot of joy down their right-hand side with Ernest Poku and Ibrahim Maza. 

B04 were the first team to break the deadlock when, in the 23rd minute, thanks to a counter from Ibrahim Maza, the Algerian’s cross was deflected into the path of Alejandro Girimaldo, who made it 1-0. 

In the second half, Leverkusen continued where they left off, strong in defence and able to soak up the pressure from City. Then, in the 55th minute, a long ball by Malik Tillman was latched onto by Grimaldo, whose short pass allowed Ibrahim Maza to cross the ball in and meet the head of Patrik Schick to make it 2-0. 

Leverkusen continued to hold on for the rest of the game, with Flekken following on from his performance at the weekend, Jarell Quansah and Loïc Bade were on the end of every ball and were even able to keep Erling Haaland quiet once he was introduced. Then Ibrahim Maza was also great at being able to link defence and attack in his newfound midfield role. 

Overall, it was a statement win for Leverkusen against one of the best sides in the world. They have struggled against similar calibre teams in PSG and Bayern Munich this season, but they clearly learnt from both of those losses and used that today. The three points also put a kick into Leverkusen’s UCL campaign, which had struggled to get going until now. 

You may use the argument that City played a B-team, but Leverkusen only had a handful of fit senior players, so while City could call upon Haaland, Leverkusen could only make one sub without dipping into their under-19s. 

The performance is also a credit to the work that Kasper Hjulmand took charge of and shows the team is heading in the right direction following their mass culling in the summer. Die Werkself’s next challenge will be against Borussia Dortmund on Saturday, and considering the recent direction of their Bundesliga opponents, this could be another chance for B04 to make another statement performance. 

Manchester City:

James Trafford (5), Abdukodir Khusanov (5), John Stones (5), Nathan Ake (5), Rayan Ait-Nouri (4), Rico Lewis (5), Nico Gonzalez (5), Oscar Bobb (5), Tijani Reijnders (5), Savinho (6), Omar Marmoush (5)

Others: Phil Foden (5), Jeremy Doku (5), Nico O’Reilly (5), Erling Haaland (5), Rayan Cherki (5)

Bayer Leverkusen:

Mark Flekken (7), Jarell Quansah (7), Loic Bade (6), Jeanuel Belocian (6), Ernest Poku (6), Ibrahim Maza (7), Aleix Garcia (6), Alejandro Grimaldo (7), Malik Tillman (6), Christian Kofane (6), Patrik Schick (6)

Others: Nathan Tella (-)

GGFN Man of the Match: Ibrahim Maza (7)

This is the Algerian’s first Champions League campaign, and going up against a former Champions League winner, the 20-year-old bossed the midfield from back to front. Maza provided nine defensive contributions, created two chances and had an 85% pass completion rate (all via FotMob)

This season has seen Maza play more as a centre-midfielder, and today has once again shown, this may be his position going forward. 

Several other Leverkusen players were just as important, with Mark Flekken making nine saves, while Jarell Quansah and Loic Baden were just as crucial in defence. 

GGFN | Jack Meenan