Rio Ferdinand pointed the finger of blame at Fabien Barthez for Manchester United's 2003 Champions League defeat to Real Madrid.
United were beaten 3-1 in the first leg at the Bernabeu before returning to Old Trafford with plenty to do. Brazilian Ronaldo scored a mesmeric hat-trick to dump United out of the competition, although they did win 4-3 on the night.
In a video from BT Sport, shared on the social media platform TikTok, Ferdinand relived the famous night and was scathing in his analysis of Barthez's goalkeeping. He felt his United teammate should have done much better for two of the goals.
Ferdinand said: "It’s not a great goal [Ronaldo's first of the night]. It ain’t. I don’t care. He knows what he's against, he knows he’s got to take it early, and he does.
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"Barthez, he can only go in the near post. I’ve got him where I want him, going away from goal. He can only go near post… Fabien? Fabien, man! We need to go back over this."
On dissecting the second goal, set up by Zinedine Zidane, Ferdinand held his hands up to admit his error: "A great run. He’s in the six-yard box. There’s no defender within touching distance. My fault, man. I take that. It was me. I take that."
Just before the hour mark, Ronaldo sealed his hat-trick with a stunning 25-yard drive past Barthez. However, while taking some responsibility for Ronaldo's third, Ferdinand was again on Barthez's back for his role in the goal.
"We’re dropping off," Ferdinand said. "I’ve got to get up. I’ve got to squeeze the play a bit. But… Fabien, what are you doing?!
"I'm not having it. Fabien's on his six-yard box, by the way. He's been lobbed."
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