Jude Bellingham and Jamie Carragher were at their prime-time television best as the Champions League returned with a bang this week.
Fans had to decide whether to spend time with their significant other or tune into the first last-16 fixtures on Tuesday - which was Valentine's Day - when Carragher certainly felt love was in the air. The former Liverpool defender serves as a pundit for CBS Sports and attempted to convince reporter Nico Cantor to propose to his girlfriend on live TV during Tuesday's coverage.
Carragher was ultimately unsuccessful but the incident did not go unnoticed by Bellingham, who put in an excellent performance for Borussia Dortmund the following day as they defeated Chelsea 1-0 in the first leg. The England international, 19, was interviewed by Cantor after the match and had some firm words of advice for Carragher.
With a smile on his face, Bellingham said: "When he was trying to get you to propose? Jamie, be better. Not on Valentine's Day, when she's there, come on. I've got your [Cantor's] back there. You should've protected yourself a little bit more though... big names in the studio, crumbled a little bit, it's alright."
Coverage cut back to the studio and Carragher began nervously laughing before launching into a passionate speech about how much he would like Liverpool to sign Bellingham. The former Birmingham City prodigy has long been the Reds' priority midfield target, with Anfield legends Carragher and Steven Gerrard making no secret of their desire to see him move to Merseyside.
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"Listen, I want that man in a red shirt, so I'm going to do whatever he tells me to do," Carragher said in response to the amusing end to Bellingham's interview. "So, if Jude Bellingham has got anymore advice for me, I'm taking it all day, my friend!"
Co-pundit Micah Richards thoroughly enjoyed watching the saga play out and chimed in with: "You sound quite desperate, right now." Carragher hit back quickly: "For Jude Bellingham? I am! We [Liverpool fans] are!"
Bellingham's all-action performance in midfield helped Dortmund secure a narrow lead to take into the second leg at Stamford Bridge in early March. Karim Adeyemi scored a sublime solo goal in the second half to put the German giants ahead and pile more pressure on Graham Potter, who has struggled to get to grips with life as Chelsea manager.
"He's a class act, isn't he? We've been talking about him for years, now," Richards said of Bellingham during a more serious segment of analysis. "What he mentioned in the interview about being captain and everything like that, he's just class whether he's in a defensive role, whether he's in an attacking role. His effect on the game, his game intelligence. He's got it all, I think."
