Pep Guardiola feels his Manchester City side were beaten by AS Monaco in the opening 45 minutes tonight.
City went into the Champions League Round of 16 second leg at the Stade Louis II with a 5-3 lead following last month's remarkable match at the Etihad Stadium.
But Leonardo Jardim's free-flowing Monaco side turned the tie on its head with a powerful first half in which they scored twice through Kylian Mbappe and Fabinho, to eventually win 3-1 to advance on away goals after it ended 6-6 on aggregate.
City responded positively in the second half and edged their noses in front when Leroy Sane slotted home on 71 minutes but a header from Tiemoue Bakayoko six minutes later settled the two-legged knockout encounter much to the dismay of Guardiola.
Asked what had beaten his side, the Spaniard told BT Sport with a wry smile: "45 minutes!
"We played an exceptional second half but the first half we forget to be there.
"Normally we play the total time at that level, but at that moment we didn't. We will learn, we have a team with not a lot of experience in this competition.
"At that level when you concede in the opening 45 minutes it's difficult. We had the chances in the second half to score a lot of goals but we didn't and we are out."
Quizzed further on his expectations of City in Europe next season, Guardiola added: "I think we will improve, we will try to improve.
"But the competition is so demanding home and away for the big teams. We were not lucky in the big moments and now we look at the Premier League and the (FA) Cup and for next season."
Source: tribalfootball.com