Vincent Kompany said there is a big difference between the leading Premier League clubs and Barcelona and Bayern Munich, after Manchester City were knocked out of the Champions League.

Ivan Rakitic’s first-half goal won Wednesday’s second leg 1-0 at Camp Nou to take Barcelona through to the quarter-finals 3-1 on aggregate. City were eliminated by Barça at the last-16 stage of the competition for a second consecutive year, yet Kompany insisted there was no embarrassment in losing to a team led by Lionel Messi, who is enjoying some of the best form of his career.

“The reality is they were a better team,” he said. “There is no shame in admitting that. There is a big difference. I will just mention Bayern Munich and Barcelona, and then there are the rest of the teams. Real Madrid are probably in between. It is the coordination and the tempo of their playing. We have always said our goal is to become as good as them but it will take some time. They are really good.”

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The captain is clear that City, Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal or Liverpool are some way below Barça and Bayern. “It is going to take some committed work to get there. You can win the Premier League, beat Arsenal and Chelsea and so on. But there is still a huge gap.”

Last season City lost 4-1 on aggregate to Barça, so is the gap closing? “I think only time can bring you closer,” Kompany said. “You have to look at what is Bayern Munich, what is Barcelona. They are not just Champions League-winning teams, they are World Cup-winning teams as well. They have generations that have played together a long time.

“We want to make up the gap but you just have to be true to yourself. It will take some work and time. If you want to win against those teams you need a very special performance and a little bit of luck. Every team can lose. There is no shame in saying it, you just have to keep going back and keep improving.

“The gap will eventually get closer, whether it is Arsenal, Chelsea, United, the gap will become closer and I just hope it is us that gets there first.”

City trail Chelsea by six points but have played a game more as their faltering title defence enters the last nine matches. “Forget about Chelsea,” Kompany said. “We owe it to ourselves, to our fans to have a good end to this campaign. If we finish as good as we can, maybe there is still something in it. We will have to see. It is not in our hands by any means but we just have to go back and work hard and improve.”