The half-time whistle blew, and the response was neither boos nor applause. Instead, there was a heavy silence as fans slowly made their way to the aisles, moving together in a quiet, almost protest-like retreat from the stands.

It was an unusual evening for Manchester City. Pep Guardiola rarely makes sweeping changes—certainly not ten at once. Such a move is unprecedented in the Champions League. Even in previous seasons, when City had already secured top position in their group, they still fielded their strongest lineup, turning it into a standing joke.

When Guardiola referred to the fifth game of the season against Bayer Leverkusen, currently third in the Bundesliga, as a ‘final,’ no one expected a drastic shake-up following the defeat to Newcastle. Such a scenario seemed so unlikely that it felt like it was concocted by a distant observer.

Posing challenging questions is acceptable, but one must be prepared for the answers. For City, the response was far from flattering. Fans found themselves bewildered by a performance that echoed the lackluster displays of the previous year.

Despite this, City hadn’t lost a European home match last year. This marked their first home defeat in a group stage since 2018.

It was a strange night for Manchester City as they were beaten 2-0 by Bayer Leverkusen

Pep Guardiola made an astonishing 10 changes against the German side and paid the price

The home support were almost stunned into silence in what became a ‘squad game’ for City 

While the impact of the result might be minimal, as City is likely to advance to the knockout rounds, the underlying issues are more significant. These are matters Guardiola needs to address, especially if City harbors hopes of excelling on various fronts, particularly in a season where Arsenal poses a formidable challenge.

Like why the press was so haphazard because, even though these players never feature together, the basic principles remain the same. Or how Nathan Ake, beaten in the air by a ghosting Patrik Schick for Leverkusen’s second, appears as if his race is now run at the highest level. And why James Trafford didn’t claw the header clear.

Or why Rayan Ait-Nouri didn’t know whether to stick or twist, embarrassingly caught out of position, for Alejandro Grimaldo’s opening goal midway through the first half.

Or why Oscar Bobb is so lacking in confidence that he only wants to play sideways. Or why Rico Lewis, one of only a couple of purposeful performers, was sacrificed at half-time. Or why Tijjani Reijnders chooses to just constantly welly shots straight at goalkeepers. The Dutchman dawdled into the box with all the abandon of a grazing tortoise, seemingly boring defenders into clearing a path.

There will be some who wonder why Guardiola chose to pick all of the squad players together. There might be some who believe it set them up to fail. He will argue that any team City name is good enough to beat most opposition, especially at home, and he would be right.

In that case, there needs to be some introspection on exactly how and why this inertia was allowed to take hold. To watch Omar Marmoush – two goals scored since April, and one of those at Swansea in the Carabao Cup – aggressively gee up a bemused crowd felt more than a touch odd. 

Atmosphere works both ways and only when City built some form of momentum – once Erling Haaland, Phil Foden, Rayan Cherki and Jeremy Doku climbed off the bench – did this actually resemble a proper contest.

Guardiola sending for those four, plus Nico O’Reilly, suggested that the test and the experiment had to come to an end – and that he himself thought that the result did need recovering. 

The result is probably rather inconsequential, given City will progress into the knockout stages

But the deeper meaning behind the loss is more pressing for Guardiola in his hunt for trophies

City goal machine Erling Haaland came on in the second half but could not rescue the defeat

But Leverkusen are strong, their only defeats in all competitions since August coming against Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich. Chucking the names on was no guarantee of a reprieve.

Ultimately, they will earn one of those in the lengthy league stage. A home tie with Galatasaray and away trip to Bodo/Glimt offer two significant opportunities to sort qualification out. But will Guardiola be quite so quick to trust those who have spent most of the season playing second fiddle? Unlikely.