Manchester City manager, Pep Guardiola, has named five teams his side cannot compete with.
They are Manchester United, Liverpool, Juventus, Real Madrid and Barcelona.
Guardiola’s City has been the Premier League’s best over the past two years, clocking up 100 points in 2017/2018 and retaining the title last term as part of a treble-winning campaign.
However, they are already 14 points behind leader Liverpool after 16 games this season and have lost four times.
The latest of those losses came in a 2-1 reverse to rivals United in Saturday’s derby at the Etihad Stadium.
“United have the quality to defend and the quality to attack on the counter-attack and you have to accept that.
“That is the level we face against Liverpool, United, Barcelona, Madrid, Juventus, they are the teams we have to face and the reality is we are not able to compete with them.
“We have to improve and accept it and move forward. Maybe we need to live that as a club to improve, to accept the reality now and improve,” Guardiola said, according to TeamTalk.