Manchester City 0-2 Bayer Leverkusen Review

CL League Phase GW5

Two losses back-to-back that felt very different in the performance levels and how impactful they are on the team moving forward. This Champions League match was a big opportunity to move towards a strong qualification position, and for several players pushing for minutes to take their chance. To impress enough to make more consistent starts. An opportunity none of them took.

Notable Stats:

• Manchester City have lost two of their last four home matches in the UEFA Champions League (W2), as many defeats as in their previous 37 (W30 D5). This was also their first home group stage loss in 24 games in the competition since September 2018 vs Lyon.

• Alejandro Grimaldo scored his 8th goal for Bayer 04 Leverkusen in all competitions this season, the most of any player for the club in 2025-26 and twice as many as he managed last season (4 in 48 apps).

Game Stats:

Manchester City 0-2 Bayer Leverkusen

• xG: 2.04 - 0.67

• xThreat: 1.77 - 0.7

• Possession: 55.4% - 44.6%

• Field Tilt: 85.5% - 14.5%

• Penalty Box Shots: 13 - 6

• Deep Entries: 22 - 5

• PPDA: 15.6 - 20.2

• High Turnovers: 16 - 1

It’s important to note the underlying numbers from the match are not reflective of City losing; there were plenty of chances to win the game comfortably, which only magnifies how poor several performances were against Leverkusen.

This was the single-match high for high turnovers Manchester City has forced this season, the most high turnovers leading to a shot, whilst only losing the ball once to the Leverkusen press. There were also two excellent turnovers City forced, and they were unable to generate a shot from inside in the first half.

The same applies to how many times Leverkusen lost possession. To have that many opportunities in the most dangerous areas and struggle to string together 5-yard passes, to rush every action, and not be clean. It’s simply poor from players who would have been desperate for opportunities to score and get their season started. Oscar Bobb, Savinho, and Marmoush have yet to score in the Premier League and Champions League this season and played like it.

Guardiola makes three subs at half-time for only the fourth time in his career as City manager—the last being Leipzig (A) 2023.

James Trafford made his full debut in the Champions League.

Manchester City record their highest single match total for high turnovers leading to a shot (5) this season.

Both Savinho and Oscar Bobb have now played 700+ minutes this season across all competitions.

If you want to stay up-to-date on individual player minutes, back four combinations, underlying numbers, and more, check out the live Google sheet below. 👇

Some rotation was expected, but not as many as ten. Which certainly would have disrupted the team. I’m sure in hindsight Guardiola would have gone for 5-7 instead, despite the team needing the refreshment after playing Newcastle recently. That would have had an impact on the chemistry and confidence of the group starting the game.

In possession, Nico often dropped into the backline. Ait-Nouri and Kodir pushed up slightly, but neither was getting high enough to support their wingers. Expected in the case of Khusanov, and wouldn’t have been his role. That was on Rico Lewis to combine with Oscar Bobb. For Ait-Nouri he looked lost alongside Savinho. Marmoush looked to make runs into the box, and Reijnders drifted across the final third but never quite made the kind of supporting runs we saw against Wolves (A) earlier in the season.

Reijnders (45’) has a great chance inside the box he takes far too long to just shoot right at the keeper. Big chance for Nathan Ake (5’) that Flekken managed to save inside the 6-yard box. Outside of those, there were very few chances created by Manchester City and even fewer by Leverkusen.

Manchester City looked to press Leverkusen by forcing them over the left side, where Ait-Nouri could jump to press Poku, and Quansah is less comfortable in possession. Away from Grimaldo, and where possible, apply pressure on Flekken to go long. If they managed to find Grimaldo with a switch or long pass, you’ve got Khusanov free with the pace to recover that ball.

However, they had a lot of trouble with this. The first twenty minutes had successful moments that dried up once Leverkusen baited them out. Ake and Stones cannot support in the middle as there are two strikes pinning them. Lewis is covering off Garcia. Bobb and Savinho are meant to be tucked inside, covering one of the pivots.

Garcia would drop into the backline, bringing a player with him. Savinho, Reijnders and Marmoush will get drawn up higher, and once that happens, they can play through the middle as Nico Gonzalez will be 2v1 between Maza and Tilman. Leverkusen didn’t create much, but when they did, as well as for the two goals, it came through this issue.

Ait-Nouri, Bobb, and Lewis were hooked at half-time for Foden, Doku, and O’Reilly. Followed by Cherki and Haaland on for Khusanov and Marmoush at the 65th minute. It was the substitutes that gave them a chance to get back into the game and win. Manchester City had 19 shots against Leverkusen, 12 of which came from players off the bench with Cherki (4), Haaland (4), Doku (2), Foden (1), and NOR (1). 28 shot-creating actions of which 14 came from players off the bench with Cherki (4), Doku (4), Foden (3), NOR (2), and Haaland (1). Despite all of that, they weren’t able to turn it around.

Nine different shots from the match were worth 0.10 xG or more; seven of those are by Manchester City players, none of them are the two Leverkusen goals. It’s not like they had no quality chances to win the game in the second half, or with those two chances mentioned in the first.

What is also quite remarkable is the stats compared to the games we’ve played this season. Against Leverkusen, Manchester City recorded their highest single-match totals this season for field tilt (85.5%), buildup completion (95.1%), successful take-ons (17), through balls completed (10), and ball recoveries (55).

Those are all underlying numbers you’d expect to see in a win by Manchester City. This wasn’t the performance of a team getting played through all game long, struggling to win the ball back, or building up through the opposition press. It was a team that lacked any aggression and ambition in the final third to change the game. It was a performance of players not brave enough to take the opportunity provided to them.

Two more for you. It's the biggest underperformance of npxG by Manchester City in a single game this season (-1.8). It's the biggest underperformance of PSxG by a Manchester City goalkeeper in a single match this season (-0.8).

Against Newcastle, you saw Manchester City look to take advantage of the passive 4-5-1 midblock, playing through the lines into the likes of Doku, Foden, and Cherki. O’Reilly and Nunes are providing the width on either side, and Silva is dropping outside the block to support at times. Most of the chances created come from playing through Newcastle in more settled possession, or after Newcastle pressed high, finding Jeremy Doku in the middle.

For the most part, they looked to force Newcastle long into an area where they had the +1 with Nico Gonzalez dropping back as Joelinton pushed up. Which they were happy to do. Some joy for Newcastle came from finding Lewis Hall, especially as Cherki struggled to close him down in time. Giving him an extra second to hit long passes over the top, out to Murphy.

Guardiola swapped Bernardo and Foden over in the second half, back to the left where he’s been successful for City this season, and put Bernardo into the first line of the press, and Foden could then track a Newcastle midfielder. Better protecting Cherki OOP. In possession, it stopped Foden and Cherki from clashing as they both looked to do the same role between the lines in the first half.

Whether it was the 1v1 with Nick Pope, Haaland had (3’), the shot from inside the 6-yard box after O’Reilly cut it back to him (35’), or the Foden shot from the middle of the box (42’), Manchester City had to take the lead in the first half. The chances missed were the story of the game. Once Newcastle are in front, the crowd is up, and they can sit deep in a back five to finish off the game, you’re always going to struggle to find a way through. Away from home, you must take your chances, regardless of how well you play or how little the opposition creates.

If you haven’t already, subscribe to get all this Manchester City content in your inbox.

Subscribe to Sky Blue Times

Moving Forward

In the Newcastle game, the team met them head-on with the aggression, created enough to win the game several times over, and weren’t able to take the chances. It’s frustrating; it can’t become a trend, but it can happen in the odd game during the season. Even if you play well, it’s not easy to win on that ground. It was an opportunity to pick up a big away win missed that they’ve got to take next time.

I don’t think the Leverkusen loss will matter greatly in how the season will pan out for this group, nor have a significant impact on the Champions League qualification. It’s more than plausible to progress in the T8 still. You need five wins and a draw. What’s disappointing in the performances of players Guardiola would have wanted to trust off the bench, who no doubt would have been unhappy not to play more, and then have delivered so little.

It’s undeniable that the volume of changes played a role, but it goes hand-in-hand with these individual performances that, if you ask yourself, have we seen those before from those players? The answer is yes. Oscar Bobb has struggled to find the aggression in the final third that he had before his injury. Savinho has delivered little off the bench many times this season, on top of looking lost in the press. Tijjani Reijnders has been soft in duels and aimless in his pressing before.

It’s worth noting that to be taken off at half-time as a left-back by Guardiola, he’s not impressed with your performance one bit.

This applies to many in that starting eleven. To have the opportunity to start a Champions League match at home. Against a team that has struggled a lot this season in the Bundesliga and the Champions League. Who were not good against Manchester City. To turn in those performances either for the full ninety or until they were hooked was incredibly disappointing. The team needs genuine competition for places to perform at its best. The minutes they play over the next few weeks will tell all you need to know about Guardiola and his thoughts on them.

However, there are plenty of players that I think are trending in the right direction with their performances, undoubtedly have the quality for a title-winning team, and have shown consistency across the games this season. Which I think is easy to forget off the back of the result against Leverkusen.

One of those players is Jeremy Doku, and below highlights the level he’s hit so far this season. Of course, there are plenty of games to go. It’s not easy to maintain these levels. But, right now, he’s creating chances every single game that the assist numbers aren’t yet matching up with.

Even with all the points we’ve dropped in the Premier League, relative to last season, the team has picked up more from comparable fixtures. As pointed out in the graphic below from Scott Willis. It’s the underlying numbers and goals conceded improvements that stand out the most to me. But that all doesn’t matter if you miss the opportunity to go on a winning run in the coming games.

Next up for Manchester City is Leeds United (H) on Saturday, the 29th of November at 15:00 (UK). After losing back-to-back matches, it’s an opportunity, along with other PL fixtures, to put together another winning run whilst other teams face a difficult fixture period in December.

Leeds United have lost their last three matches in the Premier League, falling into the relegation zone on 11 points. Away from home, Leeds have lost 5/6 games this season. The win came against Wolves. Other than Wolves (7), no other team has scored fewer goals than Leeds United (11) this season.

I was on the Ninety Three Twenty podcast to review the match against Newcastle. If you want to hear more of my thoughts on the game, check it out linked below. 👇

If you’re looking for another podcast, then I’d recommend this excellent one by Noisy Neighbours to help you get through the consecutive defeats. 👇