Man City chairman admits he was too angry to speak to Guardiola after 10-change Leverkusen defeat

Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak has revealed he was so incensed by Pep Guardiola’s decision to make 10 changes for the club’s 2-0 Champions League home defeat to Bayer Leverkusen last November that he could not bring himself to speak to the manager.

The admission came from a private conversation between Al Mubarak and chief executive Ferran Soriano that was captured in the documentary A Beautiful Obsession. The pair agreed they could not be too lenient with Guardiola over what they considered an avoidable error, with Soriano — a long-time ally of the manager from their shared time at Barcelona — saying: “Our attitude with Pep should not be too negative but not too kind or accommodating either because it is his mistake.”

Al Mubarak was particularly alarmed because the mass rotation put City’s chances of a top-eight finish in the reformed Champions League format at serious risk. “To go and to an entire new team on a game this important… probably one of the lowest points we have had,” he said. “I can’t speak to him, honestly, I am so angry. He has put a mix in that is so unnecessary.”

City ultimately avoided the knockout play-off round, but the episode laid bare the tensions at the top of the club during what became a turbulent season. Guardiola himself told his players he felt “f***ing stupid” after the rotation backfired.

The documentary also captures a candid exchange about Guardiola’s temperament. Soriano remarked that “geniuses are unbalanced people, not only Pep,” a characterisation Guardiola accepted without hesitation when it was put to him directly. “So I am an unbalanced person? Yeah, I am,” he replied.

The footage offers a rare glimpse into how City’s ownership navigates its relationship with one of football’s most decorated managers, revealing that even a figure of Guardiola’s standing is not immune to sharp criticism from the boardroom when results — or the decisions leading to them — fall short of expectations.