Pep Guardiola rued individual errors as his Bayern Munich side suffered a first defeat in three-and-a-half months but said he was proud of his players.
The Bundesliga leaders were defeated 3-2 by Manchester City in the Champions League, ending their 18-game unbeaten run.
And manager Guardiola saluted them for the effort they put in after Mehdi Benatia was dismissed in the 20th minute while lamenting late mistakes by Xabi Alonso and Jerome Boateng that allowed Sergio Aguero to score his second and third goals of the night.
"We lost the game. We gave them the game. We made two mistakes and that is why we lost. I am sad for the players. They didn't deserve it," the Spaniard said at his news conference.
"I feel sad for the players. The points don't really matter. Perhaps we were a bit tired in the end. But if you look at the effort of Xabi and Jerome, they put in a gargantuan effort, but a player like Aguero is always going to pose a danger.
"I am so proud to come here against Manchester City, one of the best teams in England, and play 10 against 11 with so much personality."
Bayern have already qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League as group winners but City will be eliminated if the Guardiola's side lose to CSKA Moscow in their final group game.
The former Barcelona manager vowed to try and defeat the Russian side as he assured the English champions his team will mount another determined effort.
He added: "I think Manchester City and Roma know we are going to try and win the game. We lost but the people see we didn't come here for holidays or to have fun. We came to win the game and we were so close to doing it."