Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart: 'We could easily be in the final... Real Madrid have beaten us with a lucky goal'

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Joe Hart was left ruing Real Madrid's good fortune after an own goal dumped Manchester City out of the Champions League and the England goalkeeper insisted his side could 'easily have been in the final'.

Hart was beaten once in 180 minutes of football against the Spanish giants as City fell to a 1-0 defeat at the Bernabeu on Wednesday night to bring an end to their European dream.

A Fernando own goal after Gareth Bale's cross-cum-shot deflected off the Brazilian's boot before angling into the top corner and Hart was clearly upset to be beaten by such a fortunate goal.

Joe Hart bemoaned Real Madrid's luck after they knocked Manchester City out of the Champions League

Hart spreads himself to make a good save from Luka Modric as City fell at the semi-final stage

Gareth Bale celebrates after his deflected shot gave Real Madrid the lead 20 minutes into the clash

'We could easily be in the final,' Hart said directly after the match during an interview with BT Sport. 'They managed the game well but they have beaten us with a lucky goal. It is what it is.

'Real Madrid created very little over the two legs, so did we in fairness. It was a close semi-final and we have come out the wrong side of it.

'They couldn't kill it off. We defended well when needed to. We just didn't have enough. Did we do enough to win the game? I don't know.'

Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini also pointed to Real Madrid's luck in being the decisive factor in settling what he described as a close tie.

Bale found the top corner via Fernando's boot from a tight angle to hand Real Madrid the initiative

Real forward Bale wheels away in celebration but the goal was given as a Fernando own goal

'I'm disappointed because it was a close game with two teams that didn't create too many chances,' Pellegrini told BT Sport. 

'Real Madrid were very lucky with their goal, a cross that deflected in off our player and it falls in the top corner. We did not create many chances and I think it was very similar to the first leg.

City were dealt an early blow when Vincent Kompany suffered a fresh injury concern and had to be withdrawn after just 10 minutes. 

Vincent Kompany hits the deck after suffering yet another injury problem after just 10 minutes

Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini was disappointed with City's attacking threat

'It is not the best thing to make the change in the defence so early but we did not have any problems in defence,' Pellegrini added.

'Our problem is that we were not very creative in the last third. We had a clear chance with Fernando and one with Kun (Aguero) but not too much between the 90 minutes, the same with Real Madrid.

'We worked the game very well, we tried to recover the ball high to make a difference but we were not creative enough and that is why we did not score.'