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Manchester City were beaten 2-0 by Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League at the Etihad as Pep Guardiola's selection gamble backfired.
Manchester City suffered a shock Champions League defeat to Bayer Leverkusen at the Etihad to put themselves under pressure in the league phase.
Pep Guardiola made 10 changes from the team that lost to Newcastle at the weekend, but got no response from the replacements and emptied his bench 25 minutes into the second half.
By that time, his team were already two goals down and the game had gone. Alex Grimaldo had opened the scoring in the first half before a Patrick Schick header confirmed victory for the Bundesliga outfit.
Savinho feels the wrath
Half of the outfield players who started this game were hooked before the midway point of the second half but it was one who stayed on who felt the wrath of the Etihad crowd.
Savinho came off the bench with City in need of a hero on Saturday and he delivered an infuriating cameo at St James' Park, wasting an excellent chance to equalise and failing to use the ball well enough.
Despite that, he got a start against Bayer Leverkusen and somehow lasted the 90 minutes. He never looked like creating an opportunity in what was another hugely frustrating performance from the Brazilian. By the end of the game there were murmurs of discontent as he wasted possession and pulled out of challenges.
It's just five weeks since Savinho produced a superb performance in Villarreal that suggested the 21-year-old was ready to kick on this season. Now, that five-year contract he signed after a summer of flirting with Tottenham is looking like an expensive mistake. He won't be keeping his place for this weekend's game against Leeds.
Goals in short supply
Erling Haaland had an off day at St James' Park. On Tuesday, he was left out of a Premier League or Champions League starting XI for the first time this season, with predictable results.
City do look toothless at times against good opposition without their Norwegian striker and until he entered the pitch against Bayer Leverkusen, they never looked like scoring.
Omar Marmoush barely had a chance in his 65 minutes on the pitch. Within five minutes of replacing him, Haaland had sent a header wide and forced a save out of Mark Flekken. Two minutes later, he smashed a volley on the turn over the bar.
He didn't get the goal to get City back in the game, but he did look livelier than Marmoush and had more chances in 25 minutes than the Egyptian managed in 65.
Ait-Nouri's nightmare
Things are not going well for Rayan Ait-Nouri at the moment. The £31million summer signing picked up an injury early in the season and has now seen Nico O'Reilly clearly establish himself as first-choice left-back.
Ait-Nouri got a chance to impress against Swansea in the Carabao Cup but didn't take it and he fluffed his lines again in the Champions League. He was out of position for Leverkusen's opener, caught napping as Ibrahim Maza got into the space the Algerian had vacated. Maza's cross was eventually finished by Grimaldo.
After that, Ait-Nouri's first half was scrappy. There were too many loose passes and heavy touches and it was little surprise when he was one of three players to be hooked at half-time.
Lewis in midfield
Rico Lewis was excellent in a central midfield role in Villarreal, a man-of-the-match performance that didn't seem to have got him anywhere until he started this game back in the same position.
But he was part of a marginally rotated side in Spain, rather than the overhauled XI here, and that made it difficult for every player. He was hardly the fall guy and tried to get on the ball every time he could, always offering a route to keep possession in the pockets near the opposition box.
He struggled to get the game moving for the Blues, however. Changes felt inevitable at half-time and with Reijnders looking the bigger threat, it was always Lewis who was going to see his night end early.
The missing piece
Speaking before the game, Guardiola had said he wanted to make 11 changes but didn't have enough players to do so, which is why Nico Gonzalez kept his place.
The Spaniard has now started six games in a row in three different competitions and his workload doesn't look likely to reduce anytime soon.
Had Guardiola had Rodri or Mateo Kovacic available, then he would have changed the entire team. But Kovacic is out until February or March and Guardiola cryptically said that Rodri's return would be "not short but not long" when he spoke on Monday.
So for now, Gonzalez is all City really have in holding midfield.
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