MANCHESTER:

Pep Guardiola took the blame after his selection gamble backfired as under-strength Manchester City suffered a shock 2-0 defeat against Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League on Tuesday.

surprisingly rested the majority of his stars at the Etihad Stadium, with Erling Haaland, Ruben Dias, Bernardo Silva and Gianluigi Donnarumma all left out of the starting line-up.

Leverkusen took advantage of a dismal display from Guardiola's understudies as Alex Grimaldo put the Germans ahead in the first half before Patrik Schick netted after the break to spark grumbles of discontent from City fans at the final whistle.

For the first time in 24 games dating back to 2018, City were beaten at home in the Champions League prior to the knockout stage.

It was a second consecutive loss for C

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