Rio Ferdinand and Michael Owen have suggested that this Liverpool team have a chance to become “immortal” after their Champions League semi-final win over Villarreal.
The Spanish side set up to frustrate the Reds at Anfield and went in on level terms at the half-time break. However, a deflected Jordan Henderson cross gifted Liverpool the lead on 53 minutes before Sadio Mane swiftly doubled the team’s lead after combining with Mohamed Salah.
With Jurgen Klopp’s side in a commanding position ahead of the second leg at El Madrigal, the post-match discussion quickly turned to the prospect of the club winning a quadruple. And following the victory at Anfield, former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand suggested that this is the best Liverpool team he can remember.
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“This Liverpool team, this is the best Liverpool team I have ever seen in my time,” Ferdinand told BT Sport. “They’re relentless. We can talk about how great they are individually but it’s the way they press teams, the energy, the effort, the application. You sit here and just marvel at it.”
Working alongside Ferdinand, ex-Liverpool striker Michael Owen agreed with his verdict: “It was just total, total dominance from (Jurgen Klopp’s) men. As Rio said, it’s the best team I’ve ever seen in a red shirt.
“They just swarm you. The Villarreal players must be coming off that pitch thinking, ‘What’s hit us?’ It’s impossible to stop this unbelievable press that they’ve got. They’re just relentless.”
The conversation then focussed on Liverpool’s chances of winning an unprecedented quadruple this season. And Ferdinand claimed that Liverpool could yet prove to be the best team in English football history.
“That has got to be the aim for these Liverpool players,” he said. “They are going to set themselves a target and if they achieve that they are immortal and better than anybody that has ever played football in this country, if they achieve that. That has got to be their target, but that is yet to be seen.”
Whereas Owen admitted that he was starting to believe that Jurgen Klopp’s side could win four trophies this season. “Just imagine it. It is impossible isn’t it, but now all of a sudden, you are thinking, can it happen?” Owen said. “The way they are playing, the amount of players they have got fit, the confidence, the atmosphere around the stadium, all of a sudden you are thinking can it happen?”
