Champions League trophy or not, Liverpool still the best team in Europe’, says Ferdinand

Rio Ferdinand and Michael Owen clashed on air after Liverpool’s Champions League final defeat to Real Madrid.

Speaking in the immediate aftermath of the game, Owen was asked if he believes the defeat will change how Reds manager Jurgen Klopp approaches big games.

But the former striker replied: “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.”

That comment seemed to raise a few eyebrows, with former England teammate Ferdinand immediately interjecting and saying: “How can you say they’re the best team in Europe? They’ve just lost the league and the Champions League final.”

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Owen then attempted to explain himself by saying Liverpool are still the most feared team in Europe.

He said: “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.”

Ferdinand responded: “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.”