Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini has blasted his side's defending following a late defeat to Real Madrid in their Champions League curtain-raiser.

The Premier League champions looked set to cause an upset at the Bernabeu by taking a 2-1 lead with just minutes remaining but Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo struck late on to give Jose Mourinho's men a grandstand victory.

Speaking afterwards, Mancini said: "I don't want us to continue to defend like this. When it was 2-1 we should have continued to play high like we did in the second half."

When asked why City captain Vincent Kompany seemingly ducked for Ronaldo's winner, the Italian added: "I don't know. I saw the goal but you need to ask Vinny. Usually he doesn't do that but the mistake was we went too deep."

Mancini went on to say that he still expects to progress in the competition, despite the early setback.

"I think the other teams will lose here. We have five games and it is important we beat [Borussia] Dortmund at home next. It will be difficult as they are a top team but this year we want to go through."

Bundesliga holders Dortmund began their campaign in Group D with a last-gasp win over Dutch champions Ajax at the Signal Iduna Park.