Vincent Kompany has said that Manchester City paid the penalty for a lacklustre first-half display in Tuesday's 2-1 last-16 Champions League defeat to Barcelona.
City gave themselves a mountain to climb in the second half after a Luis Suarez double at the Etihad helped the visitors into a 2-0 lead at the break.
Manuel Pellegrini's side threw themselves a lifeline in the tie, however, as Sergio Aguero netted on 69 minutes before Joe Hart saved a stoppage-time penalty from Lionel Messi.
When asked by UEFA.com if the first 45 minutes was a reflection on the Sky Blues or Barcelona, Kompany said: "I think it was mainly down to us not turning up.
"Teams can play well and teams can beat us but the way we played in the first half just was not us.
"If you look at the first half then you have to say that we have given ourselves a bit of hope. But you would like to have a consistent performance throughout the game and you would like to think that in our case the result might have been different."
The tie will resume at Camp Nou on March 18.
Shane Callaghan
