Pep Guardiola acknowledged his side now faces an uphill battle to reach the Champions League quarter-finals after Manchester City's aspirations in the European competition suffered a devastating blow on Wednesday.
Federico Valverde struck three times in the first half to hand Real Madrid a commanding 3-0 victory in the Spanish capital.
However, Guardiola refused to concede defeat entirely.
The City manager said: "It is a bad result, we cannot deny it. But obviously 3-0 is better than 4-0."
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When pressed on his team's chances of overturning the deficit, Guardiola said: "Now, not much but I'm not a guy to say we're not going to try.
"Now it is most difficult (moment) to live but our mindset is we will look (at) what to do better, try to be more active in the final third and we will try."
The second leg takes place at the Etihad next Tuesday.
City captain Bernardo Silva painted a bleak picture of his team's prospects following the heavy defeat in the Spanish capital.
Pep Guardiola acknowledged his side now faces an uphill battle to reach the Champions League quarter-finals
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The Portuguese midfielder said: "At 3-0 it makes it a bit more difficult. Now it feels really bad, now it feels really dark.
"Tomorrow is another day and for sure next week we will go to the game thinking we have a chance.
"It's difficult to speak about it because I'd need to watch it again. My feeling on the pitch was we started well.
"The environment we couldn't control. I think my team let emotions change the game."
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City captain Bernardo Silva painted a bleak picture of his team's prospects following the heavy defeat in the Spanish capital
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He added: "We felt comfortable, finding the right spaces, but after conceding the first we completely lost the control, stopped controlling transitions and second balls. When you play against Real Madrid with the quality they have you pay the price.
"It's a tough stadium. We're used to playing at these stadiums because Anfield, St James’ Park is very tough."
He described the encounter as "a learning game for the whole team" at a notoriously challenging venue.
The situation could have been even more dire had goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma not kept out a second-half spot-kick from Vinicius Junior.
Federico Valverde struck three times in the first half to hand Real Madrid a commanding 3-0 victory at the Bernabeu
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City's defeat capped a dismal period for English clubs competing on the continent, with all six sides facing difficult tasks to reach the last eight after none won their ties.
Real Madrid defender Trent Alexander-Arnold, formerly of Liverpool, hailed his teammate's extraordinary performance.
He said: "I'm running out of words for Valverde as a player. He's the most under-rated footballer on the planet."
Guardiola dismissed suggestions he had over-complicated his tactics by fielding Jeremy Doku, Savinho and Antoine Semenyo together in attack.
City must first travel to face West Ham before attempting their comeback at home.
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