Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola said his team cannot compete with the biggest clubs in Europe today.
City lost 2-1 to rivals Manchester United in the English Premier League last Saturday, to inflict a fourth defeat this season, and the defending champion remains in third place, 14 points behind leaders Liverpool.
Guardiola told Sky Sports: "This is the level we face against Liverpool, United, Barcelona, Madrid and Juventus. They are the teams that have to face, but the truth now is that we cannot compete now."
He continued, "We must improve, we must accept this matter and look forward, we must feel this as a team in order to improve, we must accept the truth now and work to improve."
"The truth is we are 14 points behind, because of mistakes we made, because of competitors' competence, and because of the failure to control some things," Guardiola said.
He continued, "We are in the beginning of December and before us other competitions and other matches to fight to win it and work to improve."
City will return to competitions on Wednesday, facing host Dynamo Zagreb in the Champions League, after the English team decided to qualify for the knockout round as the Group Three leaders.