Pep Guardiola has admitted he got it wrong after making wholesale changes to his Manchester City team against Bayer Leverkusen.
City lost 2-0 to the German side at the Etihad on Tuesday night, as a much changed side struggled to gain control of the game.
Erling Haaland and Phil Foden were among the big names on the bench, as Guardiola made 10 changes from the side that lost to Newcastle in the Premier League on Saturday.
Goals from Alejandro Grimaldo and Patrik Schick did the damage for Leverkusen, as City lost in the Champions League for the first time this season.
The Citizens could drop out of the top eight of the league phase – which guarantees progress to the last 16 – after Wednesday’s fixtures.
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Reflecting on the decision, Guardiola said he takes the blame for a disjointed performance. He believes some the players brought in played with a fear of making mistakes after being given a rare opportunity from the start.
“I have to accept it,” Guardiola told TNT Sport.
“If we win it wouldn’t be a problem so I have to accept it that maybe it’s a lot. I always had the belief of the long season and everyone had to be involved but maybe it was too much. They played not to make mistakes instead of doing what we had to do.
“It was not the performance that we thought. I take full responsibility. We missed something. We missed an incredible opportunity and now we need to fight in the next games.”
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