17 May 2023 , 19:49
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Rio Ferdinand left Jamie Carragher red-faced by cheekily ignoring the former Liverpool defender before the Champions League semi-final second leg between Manchester City and Real Madrid.
Ferdinand and Carragher were both on pundit duty for the titanic clash at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday, eight days on from the 1-1 draw in the first leg at the Santiago Bernabeu. Vinicius Junior gave Carlo Ancelotti’s side a first-half lead in the Spanish capital before Kevin de Bruyne equalised midway through the second period.
Before kick off in Manchester, Ferdinand shared footage on his Twitter account of him greeting the CBS Sports pundits pitchside. First, the former Manchester United centre-back shook hands with ex-City defender Micah Richards.
Carragher was next in line but instead Ferdinand headed for Thierry Henry, hugging and sharing a few words with the Arsenal legend. Carragher was left awkwardly waiting alongside Patrice Evra, who was greeted by Ferdinand’s BT Sport colleague Joleon Lescott.
Finally, Ferdinand turned towards Carragher all smiles, clearly enjoying a lighthearted moment at his ex-England teammate’s expense. Carragher seemed to see the funny side too, shaking Ferdinand’s hand and chuckling at the incident.
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Ferdinand cheekily tweeted: “Why the red face!?” and tagged Carragher.
It comes after Ferdinand revealed he would s eek clarity on the "energy" between the pair after Carragher called him a "clown" for his view on Inter's overturned penalty kick against AC Milan last week.
Ferdinand said: "Every time I see him it's all love man. I’m a loving guy, we hug and we shake hands and have a little laugh. I don’t know where that energy has come from and that's all I want him to tell me is where that energy comes from. Is it real energy or not? I need to know so when I see him I'll ask him.'"
Inter await City or Madrid in next month’s Champions League final after seeing off fierce rivals AC Milan in their semi-final. Inter wrapped up a comfortable 3-0 victory on aggregate with a 1-0 success at the San Siro on Tuesday night.
Argentina striker Lautaro Martinez scored the only goal of the night, with former Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko and ex-Arsenal midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan having been on target in the first leg.
Madrid, of course, knocked City out of the Champions League at the semi-final stage on their way to winning the competition last season. Trailing 4-3 from the first leg, Los Blancos produced a stunning fightback to win 6-5 on aggregate despite going 1-0 down in the second leg.
They went on to defeat Liverpool 1-0 in the final in Paris. City have never won the Champions League but reached the final two years ago, where they lost to Chelsea.
Ahead of Wednesday's match, City boss Pep Guardiola said: “I have an idea to do something differently, just to be more fluid in attack. It's nothing special. I'm not overthinking [it], don't worry guys. Nothing different to what we have done in the past.”
Ancelotti said: “We value a team, it's everyone, not just one player,” he explained. “We don't think only of [Erling] Haaland...but [Kevin] De Bruyne? And [Ilkay] Gundogan? And [Riyad] Mahrez? It's difficult.”