Manchester City vs Bayer Leverkusen Preview

Manchester City welcome Bayer Leverkusen to the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday, November 25th for a Champions League league phase fixture between two sides with contrasting recent results. The Citizens suffered a 2-1 loss away at Newcastle United in their most recent outing, ending a four-match winning streak. Prior to that setback, they secured three consecutive Premier League victories – beating Liverpool 3-0 at home, defeating Borussia Dortmund 4-1 in Champions League action, and winning 3-1 at home against AFC Bournemouth. Earlier in this sequence, they claimed a 3-1 victory at Swansea City in the Carabao Cup, demonstrating their ability to control matches across multiple competitions despite the recent stumble at St James’ Park.

Bayer Leverkusen arrive in Manchester in excellent form, having won their most recent match 3-1 away at VfL Wolfsburg. In their previous outing, they demolished 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 6-0 at home, while earlier they secured a 1-0 away win at Benfica in Champions League competition. Before that, they suffered their only defeat in this five-match sequence, losing 3-0 away to Bayern Munich. They also beat SC Paderborn 07 4-2 away in the German Cup, giving them four wins and one loss across their last five fixtures.

These two sides have never met competitively before, making this an intriguing first encounter between the English champions and the Bundesliga outfit. Without any historical context to draw upon, both teams will approach this fixture looking to establish early dominance and set the tone for any future meetings.

Manchester City are expected to line up in a 4-1-4-1 formation with O’Reilly, Doku, Gvardiol, Foden, Donnarumma, González, Haaland, Stones, Reijnders, Nunes, and Savinho comprising their starting eleven. However, Pep Guardiola will be without Mateo Kovacic, who is ruled out through injury and will be unavailable for this crucial European fixture.

Bayer Leverkusen will deploy a 3-4-3 system featuring Arthur, Echeverri, Quansah, Maza, Kofane, Badé, Flækken, García, Poku, Tapsoba, and Belocian. Kasper Hjulmand faces more significant personnel issues with five players unavailable – Alejandro Grimaldo, Lucas Vázquez, Ezequiel Fernández, Axel Tape, and Robert Andrich are all ruled out, severely depleting the visitors’ midfield and defensive options.

Bayer Leverkusen face considerably more challenging circumstances with five players sidelined, significantly weakening their midfield depth and defensive stability. Manchester City’s single absence appears far less disruptive to their overall squad strength, giving the hosts a clear advantage in terms of available personnel.

Supporters worldwide can watch this encounter live, with discovery+ and TNT Sports 1 providing coverage in the UK and Ireland. German viewers can tune in via DAZN Germany and Sky Go, while Spanish audiences have access through Movistar Liga de Campeones 5. American fans can watch on Paramount+ and DAZN USA, with the 20:00 GMT kick-off translating to 21:00 CET across mainland Europe.

Injured Players:

Manchester City: Mateo Kovacic (Out)

Bayer Leverkusen: Alejandro Grimaldo (Out), Lucas Vázquez (Out), Ezequiel Fernández (Out), Axel Tape (Out), Robert Andrich (Out)

Bayer Leverkusen face significantly more challenging circumstances with five players ruled out, depleting their midfield and defensive options considerably. Manchester City’s single absence is far less disruptive, giving the hosts a clear personnel advantage heading into this fixture.

Possible Line-Ups:

Manchester City (4-1-4-1) O’Reilly, Doku, Gvardiol, Foden, Donnarumma, González, Haaland, Stones, Reijnders, Nunes, Savinho

Bayer Leverkusen (3-4-3) Arthur, Echeverri, Quansah, Maza, Kofane, Badé, Flækken, García, Poku, Tapsoba, Belocian

Manchester City – Last Five Games:

Result	Home Team	Score	Away Team	Competition	Date
❌	Newcastle United	2-1	Manchester City	English Premier League	Nov 22, 2025
✅	Manchester City	3-0	Liverpool	English Premier League	Nov 9, 2025
✅	Manchester City	4-1	Borussia Dortmund	Champions League	Nov 5, 2025
✅	Manchester City	3-1	AFC Bournemouth	English Premier League	Nov 2, 2025
✅	Swansea City	1-3	Manchester City	English Carabao Cup	Oct 29, 2025

Bayer Leverkusen – Last Five Games:

Result	Home Team	Score	Away Team	Competition	Date
✅	VfL Wolfsburg	1-3	Bayer Leverkusen	German Bundesliga	Nov 22, 2025
✅	Bayer Leverkusen	6-0	1. FC Heidenheim 1846	German Bundesliga	Nov 8, 2025
✅	Benfica	0-1	Bayer Leverkusen	Champions League	Nov 5, 2025
❌	Bayern Munich	3-0	Bayer Leverkusen	German Bundesliga	Nov 1, 2025
✅	SC Paderborn 07	2-4	Bayer Leverkusen	German Cup	Oct 29, 2025

Head to Head:

No previous meetings between these two sides.

TV Listings / Streaming:

Country	Broadcaster
Great Britain	discovery+, discovery+ App, TNT Sports 1, TNT Sports Ultimate
Ireland Republic	discovery+, discovery+ App, TNT Sports 1, Virgin Media Two
Germany	DAZN Germany, Sky Go, DAZN1 Germany
Spain	Movistar+, Movistar Liga de Campeones 5
USA	Paramount+, DAZN USA
Portugal	DAZN Portugal, DAZN Eleven 2 Portugal
France	myCANAL, Canal+ Live 3
Italy	NOW TV, Sky Sport
Canada	DAZN Canada, fuboTV Canada
Australia	Stan Sport