Manchester City were beaten in their final Champions League group game 2-1 by managerless RB Leipzig, with Kyle Walker sent off late on
The pressure was off for City, having already secured top spot in Group A last time out
 Pep Guardiola made seven changes for the trip to Germany, with the game played behind closed doors due to reintroduced Covid-19 restrictions
Despite still playing a number of his stars - including Kevin De Bruyne's first start since November 6 - it was Leipzig who took the lead in the first half after a wonderful finish from Dominik Szoboszlai (24)
Man City introduced Raheem Sterling at half-time, who gave a brief boost to the attack, but Leipzig - who parted ways with Jesse Marsch on Friday - soon doubled their lead
 It was Andre Silva who fired home (71), only for Riyad Mahrez to net City's reply five minutes later
The visitors' evening went from bad to worse when Walker was shown a straight red card late on
 In a moment of madness, he caught Silva on the back of the ankles, and will now miss City's first knockout game next year
An unimpressed Guardiola remained tight-lipped on what may have been said after the game, telling his post-match press conference: "It was a red card - definitely
 I'm not coming here to say what happened in the dressing room
"Later asked by , Guardiola added: "It's not necessary
 He cannot play in the last 16 and Kyle Walker is so important for us
 We must always be in control of our emotions, especially in this competition… Hopefully he will learn for the future
"RB Leipzig celebrated a famous victory at full-time with interim manager Achim Beierlorzer, having secured their place in the Europa League after finishing third in Group A
While the defeat will do little to dent Man City's Champions League progress, it does end a seven-match winning run in all competitions and is a bump in the road for the momentum Guardiola was keen to keep building on in their final group game
Both teams walked out to an empty Red Bull Arena with coronavirus restrictions once again enforced in Germany
 It was a stark reminder of how football has been impacted by the pandemic over the last 18 months and was a strange sight despite its familiarity
It took a little while for both sides to find their rhythm
 Leipzig went close first, with Konrad Laimer almost sneaking the ball in at the near post, but Zack Steffen was there to push it away
 Soon after, the City goalkeeper came sliding through to keep Emil Forsberg from slotting home
 Kevin De Bruyne and Jack Grealish also sent shots flashing across the face of goal for the visitors
It was the hosts who then took the lead
 Laimer slotted the ball through wonderfully for the run of Szoboszlai
 There was a question of offside, but he was clearly on, as he sped away from John Stones
 The Leipzig striker then rounded the oncoming Steffen before slotting home into an open net
Steffen was in inspired form again as he denied Silva from close range
 Szoboszali nodded the ball back into the middle for his team-mate, but his own header was denied by a sensational reaction from the City goalkeeper
 At the other end, Phil Foden's effort was grazed onto the post by Peter Gulacsi, before the Leipzig stopper kept out a dangerous De Bruyne free kick
Man City continued to be frustrated into the second half and found themselves two behind in the 71st minute
 A sloppy pass from Stones allowed Forsberg to nip through before driving into the area
 He squared the ball for Silva on his left, with the Leipzig forward hitting a sweet strike that fired into the bottom corner
But City hit back five minutes later
 It was a wonderful ball in from Oleksandr Zinchenko on the left, with Mahrez waiting at the back post
 He stooped low to head the ball into the far corner, sparking hopes of a Man City comeback
However, their frustrating evening was compounded as Walker was sent off in the 82nd minute
 Silva drove down the left, and the Man City defender - who had looked out-of-sorts for much of the game - kicked him in the back of the heels
 Silva jumped straight up afterwards and into Walker's face, before both sets of players surrounded the referee
The referee then produced a straight red card, with Walker sent back to the dressing room 10 minutes early
It was a feisty end to the encounter in Leipzig, and De Bruyne went close with a late effort
 But it curled past the post as Man City were beaten in their final Champions League group game of the season
An impressive game from a player who was once the next big thing in European football
 He regularly drove out from midfield, sometimes playing as a forward, and picked up an assist for his evening's work
"The first half, we lacked a little bit of rhythm… They have a really good team, we knew it from before the group stage
 But the second half was much better, but unfortunately, one or two mistakes and they punished us
"We played better in the second half
 We were more aggressive, we played to win the game and we lost it
 Congratulations to Leipzig
"We made an incredible group stage, we qualified with one game left in a tough group
 I am more than satisfied with the performance in every single game and in February, hopefully we can arrive in the best condition possible
"Nathan [Ake] has a problem with his back, we will see tomorrow
 Phil [Foden] had problems in the beginning of the game with his ankle, he struggled a little bit
 As a precaution, I decided to put Raheem in his position
""We had to show a reaction
 This game was perfect for us because we proved something
"We took chances and could have had more
 We beat one of the best sides in the world
 It is a pity there were no fans here but we did a great job
 It was a highly-deserved win
"Both sides are in action again on Saturday, with Leipzig hosting Borussia Monchengladbach in the Bundesliga, while City entertain Wolves in the Premier League; kick-off12
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