BBC pundit Ferdinand jokingly threatens to quit air due to Man Utd's ruthless jibing

Man Utd legend Rio Ferdinand jokingly threatened to quit live on BBC Sport after Pablo Zabaleta teased him about Premier League title race 2012.

The Red Devils were beaten to the Premier League title in 2012 when Sergio Aguero scored a spectacular goal against Queens Park Rangers.

Man Utd thought they had won the title when the final whistle sounded in their game against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light, only to have Aguero's winning goal leak out moments later.

Ferdinand and Zabaleta were joined by presenter Gary Lineker and fellow pundit Alan Shearer for coverage of the final round of Group C matches featuring Argentina, Poland, Mexico and Saudi Arabia with a chance qualification.

Argentina and Poland eventually made it through to the group, but at one point Mexico only missed out because they received more yellow cards than Poland.

After the matches concluded, the BBC Sport panel discussed how they had been in similar situations during their careers.

Former Man Utd defender Ferdinand said: "These situations are quite strange as a player.

"You don't really know what's going on. You're focused on the 90 minutes and wondering 'are we done?' or 'what's the score in the other game?' You need outsiders to help you."

Referring to the situation at the Stadium of Light on the final day of the 2012 Premier League season, Zabaleta ruthlessly said: "Like 2012…"

This prompted Ferdinand to jokingly suggest he was going off the air as he told former Man City defender Zabaleta to 'go now'.

The Man Utd legend replied: "I wasn't going to say that.

"You know what, can you take me off the air please? He brought up the City stuff in 2012. Aguero's goal. Out of order. You gotta [Zabaleta] go now man ."

Then Lineker gave his take on Martin Tyler's iconic comment before continuing, "Aguuueeeerrroooo. That's a good point."

Former Man City defender Nedum Onuoha recently described what the pressure cooker atmosphere at the Etihad Stadium was like when they beat QPR to win the Premier League title.

“Just before they scored their second goal, I will never forget that Mancini was on the sidelines and completely lost track,” Onuoha said in November.

"He cursed his players, he insulted them, he did everything. The place was wild. The pressure in the stadium was as high as I've seen anywhere, in any game. C was chaotic.

"After they scored the third, I thought we were down. I realized we weren't down when, five seconds after getting my hands on my head, I looked up at our fans and they were celebrating in the farthest stand.

"I took a breath, looked around and saw everyone in the stadium celebrating. I thought, 'This is a moment that I don't think will ever happen again.' "

READ MORE: Transfer brats: Abraham linked with Prem squad as Man Utd target Gakpo and his Dutch team-mate