Pep Guardiola took full responsibility for Manchester City’s 2-0 defeat to Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League.

The City boss made 10 changes to his starting line-up from their loss to Newcastle United last weekend, and the Bundesliga side capitalised on their opportunity at Etihad Stadium.

With an average age of 24 years 353 days, City named their second-youngest starting 11 in a Champions League match after December 2018 against Hoffenheim (24y 95d).

Despite the changes, City still had 19 shots in the match – their second-most in a Champions League game that they failed to score in after their goalless draw with Inter in September 2024 (22 shots).

Nevertheless, Guardiola accepted the blame for the loss in his 100th Champions League game in charge of City, but insisted that the rotation was due to the well-being of his players.

"I have to accept it," Guardiola told TNT Sports.

"If we win, it wouldn't be a problem, so I have to accept it that maybe it's a lot, but I think playing every two or three days, we need to [make some changes], but seeing the result, maybe it's too much.

"I take full responsibility. I think the players that started were exceptional players, but we missed something needed at the highest level. We now have to fight for the next games."

City have lost two of their last four home matches in the Champions League (W2), as many defeats as in their previous 37 (W30 D5). This was also their first home group-stage loss in 24 games in the competition since September 2018 versus Lyon.

John Stones, who captained City, believes there will be a lot of lessons to be learned from the loss.

"We weren't good enough as a collective," said the defender.

"We created a lot of chances, but all in all, I think we didn’t have that edge to us. The clinical edge, the aggressive edge – which is very uncharacteristic for us as a team.

"It was difficult at times to keep them in one area of the pitch, but it's a night we need to reflect on massively."