The League Cup holders fell behind to an early Alvaro Negredo free-kick on Sunday at the Etihad Stadium, but were unfortunate not to be level at half-time.
And Swansea were left to rue Jonathan de Guzman's shocking miss on the stroke of the interval as Samir Nasri netted an excellent brace in a dominant second-half display by the hosts.
"It's a little strange to stand here after a game we lost 3-0 and feel we did many things right. I thought we played really well in the first half," he said.
"When you play against players like this you have to keep the ball as much as possible. Even at the start of the second half (our performance) was the same but their second goal shows what you are up against when you play top, top players.
"You have to take the few chances you get but, the playing part, I thought we did well until the third goal.
"I think we saw how we need to play away against big teams but you have to score when you get your chances."
Manchester City's haphazard away form will once again come under the microscope when they travel to West Brom and Southampton over the course of the next week, but Laudrup believes Manuel Pellegrini's team are the best the Premier League has to offer on their own patch.
"At home they are the best team," he added.
"I think they have so many top players and for me (Sergio) Aguero is a fantastic player. He's strong, fast, skilful and so difficult to mark."
‘The pure simplicity of the way Slot has managed the squad is probably the biggest thing I could say about him. It’s not broken, so let’s get on with it’: Liverpool legend full of admiration for Jurgen Klopp's successor at Anfield
‘I trained at Spurs and thought they’d give me a chance. But I received a letter thanking me but saying they didn’t think I was good enough – I was gutted’: How Tottenham missed out on signing Wales legend John Toshack
