Alejandro Grimaldo and Patrik Schick were on target as Bayer Leverkusen stayed on course for the UEFA Champions League knockout phase with a brilliant win away to Pep Guardiola's Manchester City.
Manchester City 0-2 Bayer Leverkusen
Goals: 0-1 Grimaldo 23' (assist: Kofane), 0-2 Schick 54' (assist: Maza)
Leverkusen had won in Benfica prior to the November international break, but needed a big helping hand from goalkeeper Mark Flekken to keep the score down in Manchester. The Dutchman pulled off a brilliant save to deny countryman Nathan Aké following a corner, with just five minutes on the clock.
Leverkusen got a sight of the City goal soon after as Ernest Poku had a shot charged down. Grimaldo went one better with their next attack, the Bayer captain applying the finishing touch to an incisive counter-attacking move that went through Malik Tillman and teenager Christian Kofane.
The home fans were on their feet on the stroke of half-time when a mistake by Ibrahim Maza let in Tijjani Reijnders, but again Flekken was equal to the task.
Grimaldo's goal was his second in five Champions League games this season. - IMAGO/Matt West/Shutterstock
Guardiola made three personnel changes at the break, but must have been considering more as Leverkusen pounced again to double their lead in the 54th minute. Tillman and Grimaldo were involved again, before Maza crossed for Schick to power a header past James Trafford in the Man City goal.
Savinho summed up the eight-time English Premier League champions' frustrations when he miscued from close range shortly after Schick's goal. Guardiola turned to former Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland in a bid to rescue something from the contest, but Leverkusen dug in to seal a famous win.
Kasper Hjulmand's team climb to 13th in the league-phase standings - a seeded knockout phase play-off berth - with games against Newcastle United, Olympiacos and Villarreal still to come.
Match stats
- Leverkusen have lost only three of their last 21 UEFA competition group/league matches (W13, D5).
- The win was Bayer's 50th in European Cup/UEFA Champions League history.
- Schick has scored in back-to-back Champions League games for the first time in his career.
- Like striker Schick, left-back Grimaldo has a team-leading eight competitive goals so far this season.
- Hjulmand has won 10 of 14 competitive games in charge of Leverkusen (D3, L2).
- Die Werkself’s last away victory in England was a 1-0 success against Tottenham in the 2016/17 Champions League group stage.
Teams
Man City: Trafford - Khusanov (Cherki 65'), Stones, Aké, Aït-Nouri (O'Reilly 46') – Reijnders, González, Lewis (Foden 46') – Bobb (Doku 46'), Marmoush (Haaland 65'), Savinho
Unused subs: Bettinelli, Donnarumma, Dias, Silva, Gvardiol, Nunes
Out: Kovačić (heel), Rodri (ankle)
Coach: Pep Guardiola
Leverkusen: Flekken - Quansah, Badé, Belocian - Poku, Maza, García, Grimaldo (c) – Tillman, Kofane (Tella 83') - Schick
Unused subs: Lomb, Schlich, Echeverri, Ben Seghir, Mensah, Culbreath, Hawighorst, Mensah, Pohl
Out: Andrich (suspended), Arthur (back), Fernández (knee), Hofmann (not in squad), Palacios (groin), Tape (thigh), Tapsoba (suspended), Terrier (not in squad), Vázquez (muscular)
Coach: Kasper Hjulmand
As it happened!
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Full-time: Manchester City 0-2 Bayer Leverkusen
Kasper Hjulmand's side grab all three points away from home after an outstanding performance in Manchester. Having looked nervy early on they grew into the game, before taking the lead via a swift counter. From then on they looked in control, even with minimal possession, defending resolutely and passing with precision after winning it back. They snatched a deserved second goal through Schick, whose guided header gave them a two-goal cushion, which they held onto until the end.
© IMAGO/BEAUTIFUL SPORTS/Mansoor
Full-time
Two more minutes
The visitors edge closer to victory, with only two minutes being added on.
Close call!
Poku makes a mess of a clearance right in front of goal and the ball squirms toward goal, but Flekken reacts in time to keep it out.
Finishing strong
Leverkusen continue to move the ball with confidence in these closing stages.
Home straight
There are just 10 minutes left of normal time, can Leverkusen keep City out?
Haaland mis-hits
Once again, a cross finds Haaland, who controls the ball near the penalty spot before turning and firing a shot. The Norwegian misses the target by a considerable margin this time, though.
Riding the wave
The hosts are trying to find Haaland at every opportunity, but Leverkusen are holding firm and maintaining possession well when they have it.
Erling enters
The goal machine has joined proceedings, with City looking increasingly short of ideas.
Game becoming stretched
City are desperate for a route back into the game, but Leverkusen continue to look dangerous on the counter.
Huge chance for Savinho!
A searching ball over the Bayer defence finds Savinho in a great position on the right of the six-yard area, but he can't guide his finish into the far corner.
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Schick makes it two!
Tillman leads another counter and feeds Grimaldo, who knocks it back to Maza. He swings in a delightful cross which Schick flicks on into the bottom corner.
© IMAGO/BEAUTIFUL SPORTS/Mansoor
O'Reilly from distance
The youngster takes a swing at it from distance but his powerful drive is straight at the 'keeper.
Lucky escape
Poku's back pass only finds Marmoush and has Bayer backpedaling, but the Egyptian concedes a foul in his attempt to reach the ball and the visitors escape.
Hosts ring the changes
Dissatisfied with that first half display, Guardiola has reacted quickly with a triple change.
We're back!
And the hosts get us back underway.
Kick-off!
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Half-time: Manchester City 0-1 Bayer Leverkusen
The hosts dominated possession early on, but only really managed to create one clear opportunity from that. Bayer then launched a lethal counter-attack which saw them take the lead through Grimaldo. The visitors grew in confidence from then on, while City continued to struggle to break them down.
© IMAGO/Eibner-Pressefoto/Marcel von Fehrn
Half-time
Another big save!
Reijnders nicks the ball off Maza in midfield and charges toward goal without any real challenge but fires his finish straight at the 'keeper from close range.
Save from Flekken!
Bobb breezes past Grimaldo and into the area, where he sees his low cross deflected goalward, but Flekken reacts well to save.
No way through
The hosts seem short of ideas, with Leverkusen's deep defending making life extremely difficult for them.
Marmoush on the stretch
An in-swinging ball from Gonzalez in search of the Egyptian is too long and escapes his outstretched boot.
Aït-Nouri down
He goes down after a collision with Quansah, but is eventually okay to continue.
Momentum shift
Having struggled to break into the City half in the first 20 minutes, Leverkusen are now breaking away with consistency and look like they could cause further problems.
Bayer settled
They're now showing more composure in possession, and continuing to frustrate City.
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Leverkusen lead! Grimaldo slams home!
Tillman leads a breakaway and feeds Maza on the right. He crosses into Kofane, whose lay-off falls perfectly into the path of his captain, who strikes low and hard into the bottom corner.
© IMAGO/Matt West/Shutterstock
Leverkusen holding firm
City continue to dominate the ball, but the visitors have defended well so far.
Tillman escapes
He loses possession right outside his own area, but City fail to capitalise and Bayer manage to clear.
Just too high
Bobb plays a lofted pass over the Leverkusen defence and into the path of Marmoush. The ball has just too much on it though, and Flekken collects.
Bayer win a corner
They venture forward down the left, with a low cross from Maza finding Poku on the far side of the penalty area. He sees his first time shot blocked, but the visitors can't make the most of the corner.
Aké almost gets the opener!
Bayer fail to clear a corner and the ball finds its way to the Dutchman in a crowded penalty box. He pokes an effort toward Flekken's top corner, but the 'keeper palms it away.
Hosts in control
City have pinned Leverkusen back early, and are looking for a way through their backline.
Off we go!
This first ever meeting between City and Leverkusen is now underway.
Kick-off!
Starting from scratch
Leverkusen have only met five English teams in European competition, none of which were City, making tonight's meeting the very first between these two.
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More on those teams
The hosts rotate their starting XI, with big names such as Donnarumma, Haaland, Foden, Silva and former RB Leipzig man Gvardiol starting on the bench. For Leverkusen, Quansah and Kofane and Belocian are the only changes from the side that beat Wolfsburg on the weekend, with Hofmann, Tapsoba and Andrich dropping out of the squad entirely.
© IMAGO/Maciej Rogowski
Manchester City starting lineup
Trafford - Khusanov, Stones (c), Aké, Aït-Nouri – Reijnders, González, Lewis – Bobb, Marmoush, Savinho
Manchester City subs
Bettinelli, Donnarumma, Dias, Haaland, Cherki, Doku, Silva, Gvardiol, Nunes, O’Reilly, Foden
Bayer Leverkusen starting lineup
Flekken - Quansah, Badé, Belocian - Poku, Maza, García, Grimaldo (c) – Tillman, Kofane - Schick
Bayer Leverkusen subs
Lomb, Schlich, Echeverri, Ben Seghir, Tella, Mensah, Culbreath, Hawighorst, Mensah, Pohl
Watch: More from Kasper Hjulmand
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Hjulmand on Erling Haaland
The City centre-forward is in lethal form this season having scored 32 goals in 21 games for club and country this season, including five in four Champions League outings. The Leverkusen boss highlighted his threat in his pre-match press conference, admitting: "He's one of the best strikers but football is always about the collective. We have analysed him and how he plays but even so, you can't hold talent and quality down at times. We will see if we can stop him, and the rest of the City team."
© IMAGO/Simon Stacpoole
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Echeverri back to haunt City?
On loan at Leverkusen from tonight's opponents, Echeverri has appeared in all four prior Champions League outings for Die Werkself. Despite a memorable first-half performance against PSG, the Argentine youngster is yet to score since arriving at the BayArena over the summer. Will he net his maiden goal against his parent club this evening?
© Alex Grimm
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García on facing his former side
"It's a difficult game, but we will give our all and will surely have our chances to secure the three points. For me personally, it will be a special game."
© Molly Darlington
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High praise from García
Leverkusen star midfielder, Aleix García, who made nine competitive appearances for Manchester City whilst on the books between 2015 and 2020, had only positives to say about his former head coach, Guardiola. In the pre-match press conference, the Spaniard admitted: “He is one of the best, if not the best coach in the world. I learned a lot from him here.”
© IMAGO/Rene Nijhuis/MB Media
Centurion Pep
For Kasper Hjulmand's opposite number in the City dugout, Pep Guardiola, tonight's encounter marks the manager's 100th Champions League game in charge of Manchester City.
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Hjulmand on facing City
“It’s the Champions League. A huge game against one of the best teams in Europe. We love challenges like this, there’s nothing better. We’re really looking forward to tomorrow night. We want to implement our own game, be proactive, and repeatedly force phases of possession for ourselves. We’ll have to invest a lot to achieve that. But we’re ready.”
© Molly Darlington
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City in hunter mode
City are unbeaten in Europe this season and fourth in the current league-phase table, after beating Napoli, Villarreal and Borussia Dortmund whilst drawing with Monaco. Domestically, Pep Guardiola's side occupy third place in the English Premier League, their 2-1 loss to Newcastle United at the weekend leaving them seven points adrift of table-toppers Arsenal after 12 games.
© Carl Recine
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Up and running in Europe
Patrik Schick scored the only goal at José Mourinho's Benfica last time out to propel Leverkusen back into contention to reach the knockout rounds. It was Bayer's first Champions League triumph of the season after draws with Copenhagen and PSV Eindhoven and a heavy 7-2 defeat to holders Paris Saint-Germain.
© PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA
Wolfsburg 1-3 Leverkusen - highlights
Leverkusen travel to Manchester on the back of an impressive result away to Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga. USA international Malik Tillman was among the scorers as Bayer recorded their seventh win in nine league games under Kasper Hjulmand (D1, L1). Die Werkself are now up to third in a congested top-four race, eight points behind runaway leaders Bayern Munich.
Welcome!
Welcome along and thanks for joining us for build-up and live coverage of Bayer Leverkusen's Champions League encounter away at Manchester City on Matchday 5 of the league phase, which kicks off at 9pm CET on Tuesday.
