Jamie Carragher goes bright red during awkward Rio Ferdinand meeting

The pair have clashed on several occasions over the past few years, with their latest war of words coming last week. During the Inter’s 2-0 win over fierce rivals AC Milan, Lautaro Martinez went down under a soft challenge and was awarded a penalty.

However, VAR intervened to rule that there was not enough contact to justify a spot kick – which Ferdinand was unhappy about on BT Sport. Yet Carragher disagreed labelling Ferdinand as a ‘clown’ for his opinion. 

“When players in my position, English defenders who are commentating, I am putting myself in their shoes,” he said. “Rio Ferdinand. I am happy to call him a clown.”

The duo have now met for the first time since as both were at the Eithad to cover Manchester City vs Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-finals. Ferdinand posted a video of the interaction on his Twitter page, drawing attention to an embarrassed-looking Carragher who was bright red.  “Why the red face!!?? @Carra23,” he wrote.

Ferdinand offered a fuller response to their war of words on his FIVE YouTube channel earlier this week. The 44-year-old admitted there were no hard feelings between them both but admitted he had been somewhat confused by Carragher’s comments. 

“Every time I see him it’s all love man. I’m a loving guy, we hug and we shake hands and have a little laugh,” Ferdinand explained.

“I don’t understand why he came in with hostility, it’s a hostile energy and I don’t understand it. He’s been on our show, we see each other and it’s all cool. He used to carry my boots when we were with England, he always showed me love.

“The thing that might have been, it was Hall of Fame week, that’s the only thing I can think of because me and him are cool. We chat, sometimes text, I just don’t get it man. I’ve only got good energy for him.

“He’s always messaging me, that’s what I’m saying, it’s madness to me. He always messages me, we’ve been in England teams together, like I said, he carried my boots. He’s always shown me love.

“I don’t know where that energy has come from and that’s all I want him to tell me is where that energy comes from. Is it real energy or not? I need to know so when I see him I’ll ask him.”

It is unclear whether they were able to chat about the incident but Ferdinand may feel content that he has been able to have the last laugh.