Manuel Pellegrini: 'Manchester City did not learn from mistakes'

Manuel Pellegrini has hit out at his Manchester City players for repeating old mistakes in tonight's 2-1 Champions League defeat to Barcelona.

Luis Suarez grabbed a first-half brace as the Spanish giants took a big step towards the quarter-finals with a first-leg win at the Etihad Stadium.

Sergio Aguero reduced the deficit on 69 minutes, while Joe Hart saved a stoppage-time penalty from Lionel Messi as the Sky Blues - who had Gael Clichy sent off on 74 minutes - threw themselves a lifeline in the tie.

It bears a resemblance to what happened in a second-round tie last season, when 10-man City lost 2-1 at Camp Nou, and Pellegrini says that his side should have learned from their mistakes of 12 months ago.

"It's important not to make the same mistakes. We can't have a player sent off every game against Barcelona," he is quoted as saying by The Mirror.

"We repeated the same mistake as last year, having a player sent off. It's very difficult to play against Barcelona with 10 men.

"We couldn't put three passes together in the first half and there was a bit of confusion."

The second leg will take place on March 18.