On a night marked by sweeping rotations, costly errors and a breathtaking solo strike from 18-year-old Estevao, defensive lapses proved fatal for both Manchester City and Barcelona as they stumbled to damaging Champions League defeats on Tuesday.
Pep Guardiola’s 100th Champions League match in charge of City brought no celebration. With 10 changes from the weekend loss to Newcastle – including Erling Haaland reduced to the bench – City never found rhythm and was carved open by Bayer Leverkusen’s rapid transitions in a 2-0 setback.
Alejandro Grimaldo broke the deadlock in the 23rd minute with a precise low drive into the far corner, and Patrik Schick doubled the lead with a towering header in the 54th.
Barcelona fared no better, undone by an own goal and a red card in a bruising 3-0 defeat at Chelsea.
“It feels wonderful and we gave everything till the last second,” Schick told broadcaster DAZN.
Chelsea comfortably beat 10-man Barcelona 3-0 at Stamford Bridge to earn its third league-phase win and move closer to the top.
It was the second loss for Barcelona, which went down a man after defender Ronald Araújo was shown a second yellow card just before halftime for a forceful tackle on Marc Cucurella.
Jules Kounde’s own goal handed Chelsea the lead in the 27th after Barcelona defenders got tangled up in the goalmouth.
The hosts stretched their advantage with a fine individual effort by Estevao in the 55th, as he held off two defenders, and a close-range finish by Liam Delap in the 73rd.
Barcelona’s fourth loss in 10 games in all competitions could mean more criticism of coach Hansi Flick’s approach.
City would have moved atop the table with a win, but the night ended with the top three unchanged. Bayern Munich, Arsenal and Inter Milan all play Wednesday.
Borussia Dortmund rose to fourth and Chelsea climbed to fifth after both won to join City on 10 points, while Barcelona sits 15th. Juventus improved to 21 points with a win as the Italian club tries to turn around its campaign.
While Guardiola suffered an unexpected loss, his old foe Jose Mourinho picked up his first Champions League win with his new club, Benfica, as left back Samuel Dahl’s early goal set the stage for a 2-0 victory over troubled Ajax. It was No. 36 vs. No. 35 in the pregame standings as the two winless teams met in Amsterdam.
Dahl scored an unstoppable volley in the sixth minute and Leandro Barreiro added a second goal in the 90th. Ajax has lost all five of its Champions League games and has won only one of its last 10 in all competitions.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored twice in four minutes early in the second half to turn the game around for Marseille in a 2-1 win over Newcastle.
Serhou Guirassy scored two goals as Dortmund routed 10-man Villarreal 4-0 to end a three-game winless run in all competitions.
Juventus won 3-2 on its trip to the Arctic Circle to face Bodo/Glimt and needed a stoppage-time winner from Jonathan David after the Norwegian hosts leveled in the 87th.
David scored on the rebound of a shot by Kenan Yıldız, who was brought on at halftime and had a hand in all three Juventus goals.
Canadian forward Promise David scored the only goal as Belgium’s Union Saint-Gilloise won 1-0 at injury-depleted Galatasaray.
The Turkish club was without injured Champions League top scorer Victor Osimhen and finished with 10 men after 18-year-old defender Arda Ünyay picked up two yellow cards.
Scott McTominay scored the opening goal as Napoli won 2-0 against Azerbaijan’s Qarabağ, whose player Kevin Medina appeared to be knocked unconscious by another McTominay shot and was later substituted.
Napoli fans commemorated the fifth anniversary of club legend Diego Maradona’s death.
Athletic Bilbao was held to a 0-0 draw with Slavia Prague, leaving both clubs outside the qualifying places after five games.
