Norwegian international Erling Haaland became the fastest player to score 40 Champions League goals as Manchester City came from 2-0 down to beat RB Leipzig 3-2 on Tuesday.
The defending champions were on course for their first European defeat at the Etihad since 2018, when Lois Openda scored twice in the first half, taking advantage of shambolic defending.
Haaland reduced City’s deficit before goals from Phil Foden and Julian Alvarez sealed first place in Group G.
Despite having already qualified for the last 16, Pep Guardiola chose a strong squad with the goal of winning the group.
However, the Catalan coach exited the tunnel at halftime, shaking his head at what he had witnessed from the European champions.
Man City dominated possession and territory but were undone by two clumsy errors from the normally dependable Manuel Akanji and Ruben Dias.
After Akanji let the in-form Openda cling onto a long ball from Leipzig goalkeeper Janis Blaswich, the Belgian finished past Stefan Ortega.
Haaland wasted a golden chance to equalize, and Rico Lewis was also offside with a clean sight of goal.
However, with City camped in the Leipzig half, Dias dove in, and Openda sprinted clear to score his 13th goal of the season.
Guardiola responded at halftime by substituting Nathan Ake for Dias.
The comeback, however, did not begin until two additional changes were made with the introduction of Jeremy Doku and Alvarez.
In 54 minutes, Alvarez contributed to City’s first goal by feeding Foden, who played in Haaland, to score his 40th Champions League goal in just 35 appearances.
20 minutes from time, Foden tapped home Josep Gvardiol’s pass from the edge of the box.
Leipzig believed they had retaken the lead when Fabio Carvalho, on loan from Liverpool, slid into the far corner, only to be flagged offside.
However, Manchester City completed their comeback with a 27th win in their past 29 Champions League home games.
Doku found Foden on the byline, and his low cross was handled and completed by Alvarez for his fourth goal in four Champions League games this season.
Leipzig had already qualified for the knockout stages, but they now face the likes of Barcelona or Real Madrid.
