Rio Ferdinand brands fellow BT Sport pundit Michael Owen ‘disrespectful to Real Madrid’ after he claimed LIVERPOOL are the best team in Europe, despite them losing the Champions League final
Rio Ferdinand has branded Michael Owen as ‘disrespectful to Real Madrid’ after he claimed Liverpool are still the best team in Europe despite losing the Champions League final.
Vinicius Jr scored the only goal of the game just before the hour mark to seal the LaLiga side’s 14th European title, ending Liverpool’s hopes of ending the season with three trophies.
Prior to the match, Owen claimed Liverpool are the best team in the world and was confident they would win the final comfortably.
Real Madrid won the Champions League with a 1-0 victory over Liverpool in Paris on Saturday
Rio Ferdinand has branded fellow pundit Michael Owen as ‘disrespectful to Real Madrid’
The former Reds striker stuck to his guns even after the game, saying on BT Sport: ‘I don’t think it’ll change much about how [Klopp] will approach the game, that just happens sometimes.
‘I still think they’re the best team in Europe, I really do. On other occasions they’d be getting their name etched in the trophy.’
Ferdinand disagreed strongly as he said: ‘How can you say they’re the best team in Europe? They’ve just lost the league and the Champions League final.’
Former Reds striker Owen (pictured above) still believes Liverpool are the best team in Europe
Ferdinand disagreed strongly with Owen’s comments as they lost the Champions League final
To which Owen responded: ‘The season they’ve had, I still think they’re the team to beat.
‘Real Madrid have got past them today, but you know as well as anyone that a one-off game is a one-off game.
‘I still think they’re the most fearsome team in Europe and they’ve not got any of the big two trophies to show for it, that’ll be the biggest pill to swallow.’
The former United defender even went as far as claiming Liverpool are an excellent team, but do are not the best team in Europe, as you have to win elite trophies to get that status.
Ferdinand insists Liverpool are excellent, but they must win the biggest trophies to be the best
‘I don’t think they’re the best team in Europe, I think you’ve got to win the biggest trophies to be considered the best.
‘They’re an unbelievably exciting team, the points tally they’ve got in the league, the consistency in which they’ve played, they’ve competed in every single game available to them, but you’ve got to get your hands on the big trophies to be called outright the best team in Europe.
‘I don’t think they’ll be considered that and it would be disrespectful to Real Madrid to say that.
‘They’ve just beaten all our top three teams in our league, they’ve got rid of them and got their hands on that trophy.’
