Dom FarrellTue, November 25, 2025 at 7:11 PM UTC·3 min readMan City lineup vs. Bayer Leverkusen: Confirmed starting XI, team news, injury list as Guardiola makes 10 changes originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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Man City confirmed lineup vs. Bayer Leverkusen
Man City injury list
Man City vs. Bayer Leverkusen match details
Manchester City suffered a blow in their Premier League title aspirations at the weekend, as a 2-1 loss at Newcastle United contributed to them falling seven points behind Arsenal at the summit.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementPep Guardiola's side have performed impressively in the UEFA Champions League so far this term and have three wins in four undefeated outings ahead of the visit of Bayer Leverkusen.
The 2023/24 Bundesliga champions have endured a slightly chaotic period since head coach Xabi Alonso's departure to Real Madrid. Former Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag was appointed as Alonso's replacement but sacked after two games in charge.
Former Denmark coach Kasper Hjulmand was appointed a week after Ten Hag's departure and has only lost once in the Bundesliga, 3-0 to Bayern Munich.
The Champions League has proved a trickier proposition so far, with Leverkusen winning one of their first four matches and suffering a 7-2 shellacking at Paris Saint-Germain.
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Man City lineup vs. Bayer Leverkusen: Confirmed starting XI
Formation: 4-3-3
Donnarumma (GK)
Khusanov, Stones, Ake, Ait-Nouri
Lewis, Nico, Reijnders
Bobb, Marmoush, Savinho
Man City team news
Midfielder Nico Gonzalez is the only starter remaining from the Newcastle defeat as Pep Guardiola makes 10 changes. James Trafford gets a Champions League debut in goal.
John Stones has only started one Premier League game since August but Guardiola has named his longest-serving player in each of his past three XIs in Europe. The England centre-back leads a backline featuring Abdukodir Khusanov, Nathan Ake and Rayan Ait-Nouri.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAit-Nouri is likely to be charged with getting forward into midfield, where Rico Lewis and Tijjani Reijnders join Nico.
Oscar Bobb, Omar Marmoush and Savinho are the front three, with Erling Haaland among the substitutes.
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Man City injury list
Below is the latest injury picture for Manchester City, and estimated return dates for those who are sidelined.
Rodri
Injury: Hamstring
Expected return date: November 29
Rodri has suffered a couple of muscular injury setbacks since his return from ACL surgery at the FIFA Club World Cup.
A late substitute cameo against Bournemouth was his first competitive action since suffering a hamstring problem at Brentford a month ago. He sat out the Liverpool and Newcastle matches either side of the international break and Guardiola is continuing to be cautious with the 2024 Ballon d'Or winner.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementMateo Kovacic
Injury: Heel/ankle
Expected return date: February/March 2026
Croatia midfielder Kovacic underwent Achilles surgery over the summer but has suffered a serious setback.
After the 3-1 win over Bournemouth on November 2, Guardiola said the former Chelsea and Real Madrid player would be "out for a while".
"He still has a problem with the ankle, a little calcification still there. We'll wait on him for the last part of the season," the City boss added. Croatian newspaper Sportske Novosti confirmed the news and said Kovacic's recovery was likely to take three to four months.
Man City vs. Bayer Leverkusen match details
Date: Tuesday, November 25, 2025
Kickoff time: 8 p.m. local / 3 p.m. ET / 12 p.m. PT / 6 a.m. AEST (Nov. 26)
Location: Etihad Stadium (Manchester, UK)
Competition: Champions League (league phase, matchweek 5)
Referee: Joao Pinheiro (Portugal)
VAR: Tiago Martins (Portugal)
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