Pep Guardiola insists Manchester City can use last season's Champions League heartbreak to motivate them.

The Sky Blues lost to Premier League rivals Chelsea in the final.

Speaking before their new campaign kicks off against RB Leipzig on Wednesday, Guardiola said his side could use the pain to push them forward this season

"I'm pretty sure it can, I'm pretty sure," he said. "The players have feelings and soul and, you know, it hurts when you cannot achieve.

"For them it's a new challenge to try. These guys won three Premier League titles in the last four years and every year we have the feeling that we can do better.

"We reached the final of the Champions League and it's a motivation, they want it. But there are many other teams who want it too.

"People can say Manchester City was a failure, OK, that's your opinion. It was an incredible achievement last season, playing so many games, and we lost the final to a big contender.

"We are just in September, the final is in May, so many things can happen. It depends on how you arrive in that moment, with injuries, with the mood of the team — many, many different things."