Overview
Coach Pep Guardiola is about to enter a new milestone in the UEFA Champions League.
The three-time top-flight champion of Europe's most prestigious tournaments (Barcelona 2009, 2011; Manchester City 2023), the Spaniard will lead his 100th Champions League match with City, with a current record of 62 wins, 19 draws and 18 losses.
This number will make Guardiola the third manager to reach the milestone of 100 matches with an English club in the C1/Champions League, after Alex Ferguson (190 matches against Manchester United) and Arsene Wenger (177 matches against Arsenal).
For now, the more important thing for Guardiola is to find a reaction from the team, after their four-game winning streak in all competitions was halted by a 1-2 defeat to Newcastle United.
In St. James' Park, Guardiola could not be satisfied when City missed the opportunity to put pressure on Arsenal - the Premier League's leading team - after two penalties were denied after VAR intervened.
However, Guardiola will be very excited to return to the Champions League, where The Citizens are unbeaten in the first leg of this season with 10 points and aiming for their third consecutive victory. At home, the 2023 champions have never lost in their last 23 Champions League group stage matches (20 wins, 3 draws), have never been behind and dominated 62% of the total playing time (239 minutes, 45 seconds).
Man City also lead the Champions League in 2025-2026 in pass completion (2,511) and pass accuracy (91.9%).
Of course, Guardiola's side still have Erling Haaland - one of the league's best players - with five goals this season, behind only Galatasaray's Victor Osimhen (6).
The "number 9" striker will make his 50th appearance in the Champions League and hopes to extend his streak of scoring in 6 consecutive matches for the second time in his career. He did the same between October 2020 and March 2021 when he was at Borussia Dortmund.
In 49 official appearances (including 3 more from the bench), Haaland has scored 54 goals, including 10 goals in the last 9 matches against German opponents.
City's head-to-head record with Bundesliga sides remains impressive. In fact, the last time a German side beat Man City at the Etihad was as a coach, Guardiola was the coach of Bayern Munich and won 3-1 in October 2013.
This further highlights the challenge awaiting Bayer Leverkusen - the team currently 21st in the Champions League rankings with 5 points after 4 opening matches.
Under the leadership of Kasper Hjulmand, Leverkusen have had a smooth start to the Champions League this season with a 1-0 victory over Benfica, opening a series of 3 consecutive victories in all competitions. In which, there was a 3-1 victory over Wolfsburg, helping them rise to third place in the Bundesliga rankings.
Head-to-head record
This will be the first time City and Leverkusen have met in the Champions League.
However, Man City are having an impressive streak of form at home against German teams in the Champions League, with 13 consecutive wins and a total score of 49 13. They have lost just one of their last 24 meetings with Bundesliga sides in Europe (19 wins, 4 draws).
In contrast, Leverkusen have struggled to visit English sides in the Champions League, having lost eight of their last 10 games (1 win, 1 draw). Including a 4-0 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield last season. Their only and only clean sheet win in this period was a 1-0 win over Tottenham in November 2016.
Score prediction: Man City 3-1 Bayer Leverkusen
The match between Man City and Bayer Leverkusen takes place at 3:00 am on November 26 (Vietnam time).
