Rio Ferdinand praises Man City’s ‘mentality’ and after their 18-game unbeaten run in the Champions League… crediting Pep Guardiola for high standards even after Treble win

• Rio Ferdinand pointed to Pep Guardiola’s habit of ‘setting new targets’ for City
• He acknowledged Guardiola’s ruthlessness as a driving force in their success
•  Liverpool’s Luis Diaz is extraordinary – Listen here to It’s All Kicking Off

Rio Ferdinand lauded Manchester City and Pep Puardiola for maintaining their ludicrously high standards after their 3-0 Champions League win over BSC Young Boys.

The triumph saw City go 18 games unbeaten in Europe’s premier competition, with a run of 27 matches at home without defeat in the tournament. 

Erling Haaland scored twice and Phil Foden bagged a goal as City qualified for the last 16 for an 11th consecutive year – with two games to spare, no less. 

Rio Ferdinand told TNT Sports: ‘Easy-peasy. It was almost like a testimonial. 

‘These guys look supremely confident, loads of players getting run outs, Kalvin Philipps getting minutes will be great for him. At any point they can up the gears. They’re making it look far too easy.

Rio Ferdinand praised the mentality of hunger that Pep Guardiola has instilled at Man City

Guardiola watched on as his City stars dismantled Young Boys in the European clash

Haaland scored his first of the evening from the penalty spot to put City ahead

Phil Foden scored at the end of the first half to give City breathing room before the break

Erling Haaland scored his second of the match with a thunderbolt strike from the edge of the box

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‘It’s a mentality thing. It’s about staying strong mentally in that pursuit of greatness again and setting new targets, not just accepting ‘we’ve won now and we’re fine’ and just going along with it. 

‘You’ve got to keep setting targets and really going for them. It can be draining mentally but this team don’t seem to lack in that area. They have a manager who’s on their case, setting targets for them individually and mentally. He keeps adding players, Doku in there.

‘This manager has to set the tone and this manager has done that. They’re the ones you look at and you say, if he can keep coming in every day demanding standards, you have to step up. 

‘The thing here if he will get rid of you. If you can’t deal with that pressure and maintain standards, he won’t have you here.’

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