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PEP GUARDIOLA admits defeats like this are why Manchester City have struggled to win the Champions League.

Chelsea’s man-of-the-match David Luiz described City as “the best team in the world” after his late header added to the woes of N’Golo Kante’s jackhammer opening goal against the run of play just before the break.

But having dominated play, Guardiola believes it was the experience and opportunism Luiz and Chelsea learned when they conquered Europe in 2012 that continues to give them an edge which City simply do not possess.

“We were incredible,” said the City boss, still seeming slightly shell-shocked after losing their unbeaten record. “Better than last season when we won here.

“The first half we had chances and we cannot expect to have a lot of those against a team like Chelsea.

“But that is the level. When the people say Champions League, we are not favourites because of that reason. At that level, you need nothing to score a goal and yet they scored – that’s why it’s so unpredictable.”

Adrift

That same Chelsea ruthlessness means that it takes just one unexpected win to put the scent of blood back in their nostrils.

Maurizio Sarri’s side may still be seven points adrift of Manchester City, but over the hectic Christmas period Luiz firmly believes opportunities may come if the champions spend too long licking their wounds.

“I hope we hurt them and we can come up in the table and be closer to them,” he said.

“If you are not 100 per cent one day, you can be beaten and we saw that. We took our opportunities.”

Chelsea’s problem has been too much inconsistency. To turn out a performance like this after defeats against Tottenham and Wolves in the last three games might have had a lesser manager than Sarri pulling out his hair.

Instead, the Italian shrugs it off as part of footballing life.

However, while Guardiola sees it as a blessing, Sarri fears his team are struggling to come to terms with having to battle hard just for fourth place.

“They have won in the past, so it’s not easy now, not to be fighting for the first positions,” he said. “Being professional does not make it automatic to have a great motivation – that would be too easy.

“We need to play with the same level of application of the City game, the same level of determination, in every match.

Problem

“I can understand it’s easier to have big motivation, strong motivation, great motivation against Manchester City, but I know very well against Brighton next week there will be three points available.” City’s problem meanwhile has been a relative lack of goals. They were averaging more than three per game all the time Sergio Aguero was leading the line in the Premier League.

But since the Argentine got injured, that rate has dropped to just over one-and-a-half.

Failing to kill off Watford in midweek nearly cost them two points and so complete was their dominance of the first half on Saturday that Chelsea managed just six passes in the final third of the pitch in the entire 45 minutes.

Yet still City were unable to capitalise. Curiously, both teams had chosen to start with a ‘false’ nine – Eden Hazard for Chelsea, Raheem Sterling for City. Perhaps if the latter’s early fluff in front of goal had been better struck, the whole match could have been very different.

“If someone had come here and told me that we’d win with Sergio or Kevin De Bruyne then congratulations because I don’t know,” added Guardiola. “Nobody knows. “But you don’t have to tell me how competitive this league is. It’s you and your analysts that keep saying we are invincible, that we are perfect, how good we are and that in February we are going to win the league.”