Having fallen to a humiliating 7-0 defeat against Man City in last season’s group stage, the hosts knew a positive start was needed at the Red Bull Arena.
That proved to be a difficult task, however, as the Cityzens dominated possession in the early stages, with Bernardo Silva spurning a glorious opportunity to give the visitors the lead.
Undeterred, Guardiola’s men continued to probe for an opener, and their persistence was duly rewarded in the 25th minute, as Phil Foden finished confidently from Rico Lewis’ intelligent cut-back.
Armed with all the momentum, City showed no signs of taking their foot off the gas as the first half progressed, but Erling Haaland could only fire his angled strike narrowly wide of the far post.
The one-way traffic continued with HT approaching, however, Haaland saw another effort superbly thwarted by Janis Blaswich in the Leipzig goal, as the hosts’ rearguard held firm to keep the deficit to just a single goal at the interval.
Determined to gain a foothold in the contest, the Red Bulls emerged after the restart with a renewed focus, and Marco Rose’s men were level within three minutes.
Yussuf Poulsen showed brilliant awareness to release Loïs Openda through on goal, and the Belgium international shrugged off the challenge of Manuel Akanji before finishing coolly beyond Ederson.
Stunned by the hosts’ blistering start to the second period, City gradually regained control of proceedings, as Haaland directed a close-range effort narrowly over the bar and Foden fired a powerful free-kick against the woodwork.
With time ticking into the final 10 minutes, the visitors finally struck the decisive blow through substitute Julian Álvarez, who curled a sublime effort into the top corner to break Leipzig’s resistance.
That piece of individual brilliance set up a fascinating finale, and Jeremy Doku added late gloss to the scoreline with a well-taken goal on the break to secure all three points for the visitors, extending their remarkable record in the UCL group stages to just two defeats in their last 31 matches (W23, D6).
As for Leipzig, they’ll be desperate to bounce back against VfL Bochum at the weekend after a first defeat in nine matches.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Rico Lewis (Manchester City)
