manchester city got straight back to business after their disappointing champions league exit as the squad remained in barcelona overnight and held a session at espanyol's training ground on thursday manuel pellegrini's side were dumped out by barcelona after a 1 0 defeat at the nou camp on wednesday night but were put through their paces ahead of a return to premier league action the champions host west bromwich albion at the etihad on saturday lunchtime as they bid to get their title challenge back on track after a shock defeat by burnley last weekend manchester city players trained in spain on thursday following their champions league exit the night before  the city squad are put through their exercises at espanyol's training ground in barcelona  the players were given no time to mull over their european exit after they were taught a lesson over two legs to find themselves on the wrong end a 3 1 aggregate result after such a commanding performance by the la liga leaders captain vincent kompany was forced to admit that manchester city are still a long way behind the very best in europe 'the reality is they were a better team, there is no shame in admitting that for me there is a big, big difference 'i will just mention bayern munich and barcelona, and then there are the rest of the teams, with real madrid probably in between 'ultimately we have always said our goal is to become as good as them, but it will take some time they are really good goalkeeper joe hart and captain vincent kompany train ahead of their premier league return on saturday  samir nasri shares a joke as manuel pellegrini's side prepare to face west brom at the etihad on saturday  'bayern munich and barcelona 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 'of course we want to make up the gap but you just have to be true to yourself we have the ambition to be as good as they are one day, but it is not going to happen overnight' city's exit meant that england will not have a representative in the quarter finals of the champions league for the second time in three seasons 'the gap will eventually get closer,' said kompany 'whether it is arsenal, chelsea, (manchester) united, the gap will become closer and i just hope it is us that gets there the first' kompany and hart, who produced a fine goalkeeping display against barca, take a break from training  city were outplayed in the first leg at the etihad stadium three weeks ago but had hoped hart's late penalty save, which kept the score 2 1, might have proved the tie's turning point it proved anything but as barca dominated from the outset, hitting the post within moments through neymar messi was at his inspirational best, setting up ivan rakitic's 31st minute goal and generally running city ragged it was remarkable the scoreline stayed at 1 0, with luis suarez also hitting the woodwork twice and england goalkeeper hart producing a series of stunning saves in one of the best performances of his career city might have made the latter stages interesting had sergio aguero not had a penalty saved by marc andre ter stegen but they could complain little about the result ivan rakitic beat joe hart with a brilliant lob over the city keeper to give barcelona a 1 0 win at the nou camp  the croatia midfielder celebrates with his team mates after opening the scoring the hosts  asked about hart's display, centre back kompany said: 'it was phenomenal on that side of the pitch i felt we had all the luck we needed to get a result 'it was probably just the penalty   if we had scored a goal it could have been a different game it would have been a great way to get back into the tie and it would have been interesting to see what the last 15 minutes would have been like back at 1 1 'if you want to win against those teams you need a very special performance and a little bit of luck on your side then you can beat them, but every team can lose there is no shame' despite progress always seeming unlikely, the defeat is another blow to city's morale after an indifferent spell in the barclays premier league video pellegrini disappointed after champions league exit  manchester city's players leave the nou camp looking glum after being eliminated  messi tries to take the ball around the onrushing manchester city goalkeeper hart  having fallen six points behind chelsea, who have a game in hand, it now seems unlikely city can retain their title and their season is in danger of fizzling out they could even face a battle to hold onto second place as the likes of arsenal, liverpool and manchester united gear up for a strong finish kompany is determined to ensure that does not happen the 28 year old said: 'forget about chelsea we owe it to ourselves, to our fans to have a good end to this campaign then again if we finish this campaign 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'
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manchester city were knocked out of europe by barcelona on wednesday  squad stayed in spain overnight and trained at espanyol on thursday  city return to premier league action against west brom on saturday  vincent kompany admits city are way behind the best teams in europe  read: frank lampard breaks record for most champions league knockout stage appearances  click here for all the latest manchester city news 