Manchester City vs Bayer Leverkusen: Guardiola humbled as City lose to Tella's side

Super Eagles star Nathan Tella came on as a late substitute as Bayer Leverkusen shocked Manchester City with a 2-0 win in the Champions League

Goals from Alex Grimaldo and Patrick Schick helped the German side to a comfortable 2-0 win over a below-strenght Manchester City side who started without Erling Haaland.

After losing to Newcastle last weekend, Manchester City’s heavily rotated lineup began brightly, with Nathan Aké testing Mark Flekken at the near post, but the fast start fizzled as Leverkusen settled and seized control.

The visitors struck midway through the first half with a beautifully constructed move from deep, ending in Christian Kofane cushioning a ball into the path of Álex Grimaldo, who drove a low finish past James Trafford to stun the home crowd.

That setback forced City to react, and they nearly levelled before the interval when Tijjani Reijnders forced Flekken into another sharp save.

Pep Guardiola, dissatisfied with a sluggish first half, responded by sending on Phil Foden, Jérémy Doku and Nico O’Reilly to spark the attack.

But before the changes could take full effect, Patrik Schick doubled Leverkusen’s lead early in the second half, beating Aké to Ibrahim Maza’s inviting cross and guiding a fine header into the far corner.

Erling Haaland was introduced soon after and almost pulled one back, but Flekken denied him brilliantly in a one-on-one and later produced another decisive save to keep out Rayan Cherki’s free-kick.

Leverkusen held firm to claim their second league-phase victory, climbing to 13th and closing the gap on sixth-placed City, who surrendered their unbeaten UCL run.