What Pep Guardiola has done to get the best out of Kevin De Bruyne at Man City again

Rio Ferdinand has praised Kevin De Bruyne for his brilliant reaction to a "little jolt" from Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola.

De Bruyne starred as City ran riot in their Champions League last-16 second leg against RB Leipzig on Tuesday. The Belgian capped off an excellent performance with a wonderful goal in added time. Ilkay Gundogan also found the net but it was Erling Haaland who grabbed the headlines, his five goals taking him to 39 for the campaign.

But while the Norwegian was deadly inside the box, it was De Bruyne running the show behind him. The Belgian was told by Guardiola to get back to basics in the build-up to the game and did so from the off, driving his team forward from midfield and whipping in his trademark crosses.

RATINGS: Haaland ridiculous and De Bruyne excellent in Leipzig win

"Sometimes even the best players need a little jolt from the manager," Ferdinand told BT Sport. "There’ll be some things he’s doing, the manager’s spoke about the basics, he’s not been as efficient as Kevin De Bruyne normally is, and sometimes you do need that conversation, that shove, to say ‘come on, reconfigure yourself and let’s go again’.

"He’s done that today and the best players don’t sulk, they don’t sit and mope around, they get up and go ‘alright, I’m up for that challenge - let’s go’."

After admitting he was an 'old man' within the circles of professional football, 31-year-old De Bruyne rediscovered a youthful exuberance at the Etihad on Tuesday and reserved enough energy to curl a wonderful seventh past Leipzig goalkeeper Janis Blaswich.

"Wasn’t too bad, going back to basics, was he? That’s what he [Pep Guardiola] wanted," former City defender Nedum Onuoha added. "The way he played today was spectacular.

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