Can Pep Guardiola celebrate his 100th Champions League game in charge of Manchester City with victory? Look ahead to Tuesday’s clash at the Etihad Stadium with our Man City vs Bayer Leverkusen prediction and preview.
Man City vs Bayer Leverkusen: The Key Stats
Manchester City have won each of their last 13 Champions League home matches against German opposition and are the Opta supercomputer’s heavy favourites to extend that streak here (72.7%).
Pep Guardiola will be taking charge of his 100th Champions League game with Manchester City, becoming the third coach to achieve this feat with an English team after Alex Ferguson and Arsène Wenger.
Erling Haaland could make his 50th Champions League start and will look to mark the milestone by scoring for the sixth successive game in the competition.
Pep Guardiola is set to hit yet another UEFA Champions League landmark on Tuesday.
A three-time winner of Europe’s premier club competition (twice with Barcelona in 2009 and 2011, once with Manchester City in 2023), the Spaniard will oversee his 100th Champions League game in charge of City (W62 D19 L18).
That will make Guardiola the third coach to reach triple figures with an English club in the European Cup/Champions League, after Alex Ferguson (190 with Manchester United) and Arsène Wenger (177 with Arsenal).
First and foremost, though, he will be seeking a response from his side, who saw their four-game winning streak in all competitions ended by a 2-1 defeat to Newcastle United on Saturday.
The City boss was far from happy at St. James’ Park, where the visitors missed the chance to apply pressure on Premier League leaders Arsenal after seeing two penalty appeals waved away following VAR reviews, while Harvey Barnes’ winning goal was eventually awarded after a five-minute check.
Guardiola will welcome the opportunity to return to action in the Champions League, where City are unbeaten in this season’s league phase (10 points) and are seeking a third straight win.
In fact, the 2023 winners, who have avoided defeat in their last 23 Champions League group/league matches at home (W20 D3), have not trailed at any point in the competition this term, leading for 62% of their total match time (239:45).
City also rank first in the 2025-26 Champions League when it comes to successful passes (2,511), pass accuracy (91.9%), 10+ pass sequences in open play (95), and passes per sequence (6.2).
Of course, City also boast one of the competition’s form players in Erling Haaland, whose tally of five goals is only bettered by Galatasaray’s Victor Osimhen (six) this season.
City’s number nine could make his 50th Champions League start on Tuesday, and will hope to mark the occasion by scoring in six successive matches in the competition for the second time in his career, having also achieved this feat between October 2020 and March 2021 while at Borussia Dortmund.
His 49 starts (plus three sub appearances) have yielded 54 goals, including 10 in his last nine outings against German opponents.
Erling Haaland goals UCL
City have a very good record against Bundesliga opposition. In fact, when a German side last triumphed against City at the Etihad Stadium, Guardiola was in the opposing dugout, guiding Bayern Munich to a 3-1 victory in October 2013.
That emphasises the task awaiting Bayer Leverkusen, who occupy 21st place in the league table with five points from their opening four games.
Kasper Hjulmand’s side enjoyed their first success of this season’s Champions League last time out, with a narrow 1-0 win over Benfica triggering a run of three straight victories in all competitions, including a 3-1 triumph against Wolfsburg on Saturday that helped them to third in the Bundesliga table.
Leverkusen, who have only lost three of their last 20 group/league matches in UEFA competition (W12 D5), are seeking a milestone of their own, as they chase a 50th victory in the European Cup/Champions League.
Die Werkself’s finest hour in the competition came back in 2002. Klaus Toppmöller’s side – featuring the likes of Michael Ballack, Oliver Neuville and Lúcio – eliminated Liverpool and Manchester United on the way to reaching the final, where they eventually succumbed to Real Madrid and that Zinedine Zidane volley at Hampden Park.
However, the class of 2025 travel to the Etihad hoping to claim only a second victory in their last 13 away games against English opposition, while their most recent visit to England brought a 4-0 humbling by Liverpool at Anfield last season.
Leverkusen will be without Lucas Vázquez and Exequiel Palacios but should have Nathan Tella and Álex Grimaldo available.
City, on the other hand, have largely a full squad to choose from beyond the continued absences of Mateo Kovacic and Rodri, who will be out until March and December, respectively.
Man City vs Bayer Leverkusen Head-to-Head
This will be the first meeting between City and Leverkusen in UEFA competition.
Nevertheless, City have won each of their last 13 Champions League home games against German opposition by an aggregate score of 49-13, losing just one of their last 24 European matches against Bundesliga teams (W19 D4).
By contrast, Leverkusen have lost eight of their last 10 Champions League away games against English sides (W1 D1), including that 4-0 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield last season. Their only victory and clean sheet during that span came courtesy of a 1-0 win over Tottenham in November 2016.
Man City vs Bayer Leverkusen Prediction
The Opta supercomputer is not looking too far past a home win, with City having won 72.7% of its 10,000 pre-match simulations.
Leverkusen’s chances of claiming that 50th victory in the European Cup/Champions League are rated at just 11.2%, with a draw at 16.1%.
Man City vs Leverkusen Prediction
Man City vs Bayer Leverkusen Predicted Lineups
Manchester City: Gianluigi Donnarumma, Matheus Nunes, Rúben Dias, Joško Gvardiol, Nico González, Tijjani Reijnders, Phil Foden, Savinho, Jérémy Doku, Erling Haaland.
Head coach: Pep Guardiola
Bayer Leverkusen: Mark Flekken, Jarell Quansah, Loïc Badé, Edmond Tapsoba, Ernest Poku, Aleix García, Ibrahim Maza, Alex Grimaldo, Jonas Hofmann, Malik Tillman, Patrik Schick.
Head coach: Kasper Hjulmand
Opta Power Rankings
The Opta Power Rankings are a global team ranking system. They assign an ability score to over 13,000 domestic football teams. This score is on a scale between zero and 100, where zero is the worst-ranked team in the world and 100 is the best team in the world.
Ahead of kick-off on Tuesday, here is the Opta Power Ranking for both sides.
Subscribe to our football newsletter to receive exclusive weekly content. You should also follow our social accounts over onX, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook.******