Rio Ferdinand sticks boot into ‘tired and old’ Real Madrid and insists Zinedine Zidane’s men were lucky not to lose by ‘five or six goals’ in lacklustre Stamford Bridge showing as Chelsea book place in Istanbul final
- Rio Ferdinand criticised Real Madrid’s performance in their defeat to Chelsea
- The pundit labelled the Spanish side ‘tired and old’ after a lacklustre showing
- Ferdinand claimed Madrid were lucky not to lose by five or six goals in the end
- Steve McManaman feels tough times are ahead for club amid financial struggles
Rio Ferdinand laid into the Real Madrid team after they lost 2-0 to Chelsea in the second leg of their Champions League semi final to get knocked out of the competition.
Zinedine Zidane‘s side went into the second leg knowing they had to score an away goal if they were to go through, but were second best all night and failed to mount any serious challenge to Chelsea’s backline.
Speaking after the match, Ferdinand believed the visitors were lucky the margin of their defeat wasn’t wider.
Rio Ferdinand was disappointed by a lethargic performance from Real Madrid against Chelsea
The BT pundit felt the Spanish side were unable to match the energy and hunger of the Blues
‘Yes they’ve (Madrid) got good players, but they looked tired tonight,’ Ferdinand told BT Sport.
‘They looked like an old team tonight and Chelsea looked like a young team who were hungry.
‘They could have won by about five or six goals tonight. We said before about them playing quick and in transition and breaking from midfield.
‘Kante did that for the first goal, they did in time and time again after that and they got the job done.’
Ferdinand praised N’Golo Kante but questioned the Madrid side after they were well beaten
Madrid sit second in La Liga, trailing leaders Atletico Madrid by two points as the season moves to an end.
The club continue to suffer with huge financial problems, and with the collapse of the European Super League proposals a quick solution to that seems unlikely.
Steve McManaman, who played for the Spanish side for four seasons, suggested there are troubles times ahead for his former club.
‘They got big problems ahead of them,’ McManaman said. ‘They’re fine in La Liga like a lot of the teams in Spain financially.
‘They have got to change the team around. They couldn’t keep all the players, Gareth Bale had to go, James left and Odegaard when out on loan, Luka Jovic too.
‘They weakened the squad that way, they need reinforcements.’
Steve McManaman feels former side have big problems ahead with key players out on loan
