Joe Hart believes Manchester City have set themselves a new Champions League benchmark after their stunning 3-1 victory at Sevilla.
City secured their place in the last 16 of the competition with two games to spare with one of their finest European performances on a superb night at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium on Tuesday.
Goals from Raheem Sterling and Fernandinho in a blistering 11-minute spell after kick-off put City on course and Wilfried Bony secured an impressive win after Sevilla pulled one back in a brief rally.
The result took City to the top of Group D and the challenge is now to cement that top spot, and a more favourable draw, in the knockout stages for the first time.
After some of their past struggles in the competition, the result could herald a breakthrough for City and Hart feels they have set a standard they must maintain.
The England goalkeeper said: "I think so, and this was the right way to play. I think we set up well, I think we defended well and we took our chances well.
"It's pretty simple but sometimes we've not played to that gameplan - we've been a little reckless. I think Vinny's (Kompany) said it a few times, we've been a little nit naive and been caught out, but here we've been really solid. They've only had a couple of chances and we took ours."
Asked if the performance was City's most accomplished in the Champions League, Hart said: "Yes, I think so, against a really confident Sevilla side who play with a lot of attacking intent.
"They were one of the teams we were supposedly going to struggle against in this group, but that's two wins (against them) now, we're top of the group and we're looking to try and win it.
"We don't really look to make big statements - we look to win our games and build on what we're doing. We're doing well at the moment. Without playing really well in the Premier League we're top, and we're top of our group now."
Last season City needed back-to-back victories over Bayern Munich and Roma to scrape into the next stage as group runners-up. Hart acknowledges the mindset will now be different as they go into their final two games against Juventus away and Borussia Monchengladbach at home looking for the results to keep them top.
The 28-year-old said: "I imagine it will be a lot easier for us - in the set-up it's not as desperate.
"Speak to our fans and, as much pain as we put them through, they enjoy the ride. I enjoy the ride. But it's a different way to look at it this time. We can set up a little bit different and we don't have to be as vulnerable."
Source: PA-WIRE
