Man City offer lame excuse for Euro failure after Barca defeat

Another red card and concerns over Sergio Aguero as City limp out of Champions League

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(Image credit: QUIQUE GARCIA/AFP/Getty Images)

Barcelona 2 Manchester City 1 [Barcelona win 4-1 on aggregate]. There was no Manchester miracle last night in the Camp Nou, just another defeat for the Sky Blues as they exited the Champions League at the last 16 stage, just as Arsenal had done to Bayern Munich 24 hours earlier. And the two results only emphasised the gulf in class between England's finest and the quality sides on the Continent.City captain Vincent Kompany, who scored his side's only goal of the tie on 89 minutes, struck a defiant note afterwards, declaring: "If anything it should give us motivation... it's only the third year ever for ManchesterCity in the Champions League. I'm looking at this and I don't see why next year we should fear anyone."

It was a lame excuse by the Belgian that City are still easing themselves into the competition. With the talent they have in their ranks, the English side should have more to show for their Champions League efforts over three years than two group stage exits and an appearance in the last 16.

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Bill Mann is a football correspondent for The Week.co.uk, scouring the world's football press daily for the popular Transfer Talk column.