Manuel Pellegrini insists his formations are not to blame for Manchester City's Champions League shortcomings.
The reigning Premier League champions were beaten 1-0 by Barcelona at Camp Nou on Wednesday night which sealed their elimination from Europe's top club competition.
The loss in Catalonia was City's fourth in a row against the Blaugrana, following the first leg reverse at the Etihad Stadium, and last season's pair of defeats at the same stage but Pellegrini says the way he sent his team out was not the cause for the latest setback.
"The four games we played against Barcelona we had four different formations, so it's not the formation that's the problem, it is the performance," the Chilean said after the match.
"I think we lost against the better team, without doubt. We improved a lot in the second half.
"(The penalty miss from Sergio Aguero) was a very important moment, we had 15 minutes more to play."
Ivan Rakitic scored the only goal of the game with a fine lobbed finish in the 31st minute prior to Aguero having his spot-kick saved by Marc-Andre ter Stegen in the 78th minute.
