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Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand has lambasted Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate for their performance in Liverpool’s 1-0 defeat at Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League.
Needing to recover from a 5-2 first-leg defeat, Liverpool visited the Santiago Bernabeu for the second leg on Wednesday (March 15) night. After a flurry of misses from both teams, Real Madrid went ahead in the 78th minute, with Karim Benzema applying a convincing finish from close range to seal a 6-2 aggregate win.
The goal came from a rather straightforward pass from Eduardo Camavinga, who exploited the space between Van Dijk and Konate to play Benzema through. The Frenchman lost a challenge from Van Dijk, but the rebound fell to Vinicius Junior, who scrappily fed it back to Benzema to score.
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Speaking on BT Sport, Ferdinand was critical of Van Dijk and Konate’s positioning, remarking that the pair should have marked the 2022 Ballon d’Or winner a lot better. The Englishman said:
“That distance between one centre-back to the other at this stage with, by the way, one of the deadliest, lethal strikers on the planet in this position, with the midfielder actually facing play as well, I’m baffled as to why one of those centre-backs doesn’t go: ‘right, I’m going to go attach myself straight onto him, I’m going to mark him’, and the other one can cover or get in front.”
Carlo Ancelotti lauds Real Madrid ace Vinicius Junior following Liverpool win
Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti has heaped praise on Vinicius Junior following Wednesday’s win over Liverpool, dubbing him the best player in the world.
The Brazilian left winger looked like a livewire against the Merseysiders. He tormented Trent Alexander-Arnold throughout the night, pressed incessantly and cleverly assisted Benzema despite going to the ground.
Vinicius Junior’s performance pleased Ancelotti immensely, with the Italian mastermind showering him with the highest of praise. Ancelotti said:
“For me he is the best in the world. Today he did not score but he gave an assist.”
Against Liverpool, the Real Madrid superstar created four chances, completed five dribbles, won seven ground duels and made three recoveries. Vinicius has now scored 19 times and claimed ten assists in 40 games this season across competitions.
