Pep Guardiola was full of praise for Southampton ahead of Manchester City's trip to the south coast this weekend.
City face Claude Puel's side at St Mary's on Saturday, looking to move three points closer to securing Champions League football next season.
Back in October, Southampton grabbed a 1-1 draw at the Etihad Stadium, so Guardiola is well aware of the quality of City's next opponents.
He said: "I think Southampton are making an exceptional season.
"They have, of course, a good manager (Claude Puel) and exceptional players in all positions.
"They have very good midfielders, all the strikers are so fast, they play the wingers inside and all of them have good quality.
"The full-backs are guys who go up and down. They are a really, really good team. I was really impressed when they came here at the beginning of the season.
"Of course in that moment we came back from Barcelona, had played a lot of games in that period and we were tired.
"But of course they are a good team. It's a really good test for us."
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