"Manchester City fell behind to Bayer Leverkusen courtesy of an Alejandro Grimaldo goal mid-way through what was a largely lacklustre half from the hosts at the Etihad. Boss Pep Guardiola made 10 changes to the City side that lost to Newcastle in the Premier League on Saturday, with Nico Gonzalez the only player to keep his place. It initially appeared to be an inspired shake-up, with Guardiola's men dominating possession from the off, restricting Leverkusen to scraps."
"But if Guardiola cut an angry figure at St James' Park three days ago, he was again left frustrated by his team's lack of penetration in the final third. With top scorer Erling Haaland looking on from the bench, the lack of attacking creativity would prove costly. In the 23rd minute, Leverkusen captain Grimaldo fired the visitors in front with a fine finish after a slick counter attack down City's left."
"These teams have never met before, although City have won 19 and lost one of their last 24 meetings with German teams, while Leverkusen lost eight and won one of their previous 12 away against English clubs The English side are unbeaten in their last 23 group stage and league phase home matches, winning 20 of those City need three goals to reach 300 in the Champions League proper"
Manchester City fell behind to Bayer Leverkusen when Alejandro Grimaldo fired the visitors ahead after a slick counter-attack down City's left. Pep Guardiola made ten changes from the side that lost to Newcastle, with Nico Gonzalez the only player retained. City dominated possession early but produced little penetration in the final third, leaving Guardiola frustrated. Erling Haaland remained on the bench while the team struggled for attacking creativity. Former Brentford goalkeeper Mark Flekken made key saves to deny Oscar Bobb and Tijjani Reijnders before half-time. Kick-off is at 20:00 GMT with live UK coverage on TNT Sports.
Read at 101GREATGOALS.COM
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]