Manchester City have been able to string together a 19-match winning streak because of all of the money they spend on "incredible players", joked Pep Guardiola.

City's 2-0 first-leg triumph over Borussia Monchengladbach in Budapest put the Premier League leaders in a commanding position to advance to the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

Guardiola brought Sergio Aguero, Ferran Torres and Riyad Mahrez off the bench at Puskas Stadium, while John Stones, Kevin De Bruyne and Benjamin Mendy were among the unused substitutes.

Bernardo Silva and Gabriel Jesus were on the scoresheet, extending a winning stretch that dates back to December 16 as City continue to fight on four fronts.

When quizzed about the reasons behind his side's relentless run of success, Guardiola seemed to take a sarcastic swipe at his critics by claiming it was all about the money.

"We have a lot of money to buy a lot of incredible players," he joked.

"All the time we win for the money, this is true. And without the good-quality players, we cannot do it.

"And the humanity of this group, the players are fantastic and have an incredible relationship and play every game to win."