Rio Ferdinand believes that Liverpool’s players can make themselves “immortal” by achieving a quadruple.
Jurgen Klopp’s side beat Villarreal 2-0 at Anfield on Wednesday evening in the first leg of their Champions League last four tie to take a significant step towards the final, where they could face Premier League title rivals Manchester City.
In the cup domestically, Liverpool have already beaten Chelsea on penalties to win the Carabao Cup this season and face the same opposition in the final of the FA Cup on 14 May.
All four trophies have not been won in a single season in English men’s football, but Ferdinand thinks that this Liverpool side have what it takes to achieve the feat.
“This is the best Liverpool team I’ve ever seen,” Ferdinand said on BT Sport. “They’re relentless with and without the ball.
“It’s the way they press teams, the energy, effort, application, you marvel at it. That [the quadruple] has got to be the aim. They are going to set themselves the target.
“If they achieve it they’re immortal, they are above anyone that has played the game in this country. Whether they can achieve it remains to be seen. But they’re ticking boxes along the way at the moment.”
Liverpool were frustrated during the first half by a defensively resolute Villarreal, who saw little of the ball.
However a moment of misfortune for the visiting Spanish side saw Pervis Estupinan divert a cross beyond goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli to open the scoring just after the interval, and Sadio Mane added a second soon after.
Echoing his colleague Ferdinand, former Liverpool striker Michael Owen belives that game-by-game a quadruple is becoming less of an impossibility.
“It’s the best team I’ve ever seen in a red shirt,” Owen said of Klopp’s current squad.
“Imagine [the quadruple]. It’s impossible... but now you’re thinking can it happen? The way they’re playing, the belief, you’re thinking can it happen?”
