Pep Guardiola has confessed that his decision to overhaul his Manchester City lineup for their Champions League clash with Bayer Leverkusen “backfired completely,” describing it as a rare managerial mistake he does not plan to repeat.
The City boss made ten changes from the side that lost to Newcastle, fielding what was effectively a second-string team in an attempt to rest key players like Erling Haaland ahead of a hectic run of fixtures. However, the gamble proved costly as City slumped to a 2-0 home defeat, a result that left Guardiola visibly frustrated in his post-match comments.
“The truth is, it was too much,” Guardiola admitted candidly. “It’s the first time in my career that I’ve made that many changes, and I’ve realised it was the wrong call. The idea was to keep the squad fresh because we are competing on four fronts, but the performance was not what we needed.”
Explaining his logic, Pep Guardiola said that Haaland and several senior players have been pushed to their physical limits. “Erling played 90 minutes twice for Norway and another 90 against Newcastle — he can’t sustain that intensity every three days,” he noted. “I wanted to give opportunities to players like Omar, Savinho, and Oscar. They trained well, they have energy and pace, but collectively we lacked aggression and rhythm.”
The experiment, however, did not deliver. City looked disjointed from the outset, struggling to impose their usual control and creativity. “I trusted the players, and I still do,” Guardiola continued. “John [Stones] was back, Nathan [Aké] is always reliable, and Aït-Nouri played really well at the Club World Cup. But maybe I moved too many pieces at once. You lose balance, you lose cohesion — and in the Champions League, you get punished for that.”
Pep Guardiola insisted his decision stemmed from instinct and a desire to protect his stars for a congested period ahead, which includes fixtures against Fulham, Sunderland, and Real Madrid. “We cannot play Erling for 95 minutes every game,” he said. “But now I know — you can’t change everything. It was a lesson for me as well.”
City remain in a strong position to qualify from their group, but Guardiola’s self-critique underlined a clear message: even the best managers learn the hard way when it comes to over-rotation.
