Despite a strong performance at the back to restrict our opponents’ chances while trying to hit them on the break, we succumbed to a 1-0 loss to the Premier League leaders, due to Kevin De Bruyne’s solitary goal from outside the box.

Azpilicueta feels it was always likely to be a game decided by small margins and while it could have gone another way on a different day, the defeat is still a painful one for the players.

‘It’s simple, they scored one goal, we didn’t,’ said our skipper. ‘I think we could have punished them a bit more as the game went on. We knew it was going to be a tight game and we couldn’t score the first goal, which I feel would have helped us massively to get at least a point.

‘We had some good chances, some half-chances that we could have scored. We know that they push you a lot, that they don’t let you play comfortably, but I think that for the few spells where we had the ball we controlled it.

‘We defended well. We were playing against a very strong side and we knew that it could be a difficult game. Of course, we are disappointed not to get something from it.’

However, the Spaniard knows there is no time to dwell on the disappointment of that result, as the games continue coming thick and fast, with a trip to the South Coast to face Brighton in the Premier League up next on Tuesday evening.

It is a similar story with the league table, after that loss left us trailing City by 13 points at the top of the table, as Azpilicueta insists our focus needs to be purely on our own performances and getting back to our best, trusting that the results and points will follow if we can achieve that.

‘After this game it is more difficult than before the game. We were 10 points behind, it could have come down to seven, and even then there still would have been a gap in between, but we lost so of course when you are 13 points behind it is very difficult.

‘You cannot focus on that. You need to get the consistency back of winning games, of being solid, of scoring goals, if we want to get our rhythm.

‘That’s the first thing, get back to winning ways on Tuesday when we have a tough game against Brighton, away again. We have a busy schedule, we don’t stop, so we have to recover well and go for it.’