Following last night’s results that saw both Liverpool and Manchester City progress through to the semi-finals of the Champions League, Rio Ferdinand was asked which side he would rather see lift Europe’s premier competition.
Certainly not an easy question for a man that made over 300 appearances for Manchester United.
So instead of providing an answer, the 43-year-old warned people to ‘just beware of Unai Emery’.
The Spaniard is the boss of La Liga outfit Villarreal, the team Jurgen Klopp’s side will face in the next round of the competition whilst City will be up against Real Madrid.
Emery’s side have defeated Juventus and Bayern Munich in the previous two rounds and will therefore be no pushover.
Of course, on paper, it’s one of the easiest semi-final ties we could’ve asked for, but you can’t take anything for granted in the prestigious competition.
Ferdinand is more than aware of the threat that the Spanish side will pose – they only qualified for the Champions League this season due to the fact they defeated Ferdinand’s former side United in the Europa League final last term.
Back in 2016, when we reached the final of Europe’s second competition, we defeated the La Liga outfit in the semi-finals with a 3-0 second-leg win over them at Anfield after losing 1-0 to them in Spain.
Before we can even think about winning the tournament for the seventh time though, we need to concentrate on eliminating Villarreal first.
You can catch Ferdinand speaking below via @btsportfootball on Twitter.
So, @rioferdy5… Would you rather Liverpool or Manchester City win the Champions League? 🤔
"Just beware of Unai Emery."
👀#UCL pic.twitter.com/rONseUMVFx
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) April 13, 2022