Man City suffered their first defeat in the Champions League, losing at home to Bayer Leverkusen (0:2). In total, the coach made 10 substitutions compared to the squad that lost to Newcastle (1:2) on Saturday, August 22.
Norwegian Erling Holland was among those who were included in the reserve list in the game with Bayer.
Holland was one of five players to feature in the second half as City tried to bounce back after conceding two goals. However, the German team kept the advantage and inflicted the first European defeat of the season on the “townsmen”.
At the post-match press conference Pep Guardiola explained why he decided to start the match with Holland on the bench:
“Erling played in the qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup for Norway and it was very difficult against Newcastle.
I can see Omar Marmus close to the free-kick and we have attacking midfielders playing in the middle – that’s important for our style of play.
Erling cannot last every 95 minutes in matches against teams that play the ball incredibly, break the lines and we need fresh legs.
Erling, for example, played 90 minutes twice for Norway, and then they had their World Cup celebrations. And after that – Newcastle, and the recovery is very little, only three days. I prefer quality time.”
Source: sport.ua