Manchester United academy chief Nicky Butt concedes Manchester City are now top dogs.
United favourite and now academy manager Butt saw the club's current crop totally outclassed by their noisy neighbours 3-1 at the Etihad on Sunday.
Butt said: “For Man United now we have got a challenge on to get back to where we want to be, which is the biggest club in the country, and also in the city.
“That challenge is there for the owners, the board, the manager and the club in general to be where we want to be. We have got a challenge on our hands to get there.
“Every now and again you come up against a team that are too good for you.
“It happened to us when we were a team that were wanting to do well in Europe, we come up against a team, Juventus , that were superior to us, they beat us every time we played them.
“Every now and again you have got to hold your hands up and say 'they are a better team than us, better players than us, too good for every team in the Premier League and they are as good as any team in Europe.
“On Sunday anyone who had a bit of common sense knew it was going to be a very difficult game, that they had their work cut out, and every single player had to be at the top of their game to get a result off that team. It wasn't to be. They were a much better team on the day."