Rio Ferdinand refuses to disrespect Real Madrid

Rio Ferdinand made sure there was no disrespect towards Real Madrid during BT Sport’s coverage of their Champions League quarter-final clash with Chelsea on Wednesday night.

Rio Ferdinand, who was on punditry duty alongside Jake Humphrey, Joe Cole and Glenn Hoddle, asked the BT Sport production team to move their table, which was placed directly in front of the Real Madrid logo on the Bernabeu turf, before going live on TV.

In a video shared on his Twitter account, Ferdinand said: “They’re asking us to stand on the Real Madrid badge. You can’t do that man! We’re going to roll it up so we don’t stand on the badge.”

The incident was predated by Tuesday night’s match, where Joao Cancelo, who is currently on loan at Bayern Munich from Manchester City, was seen avoiding stepping on the club crest before the match against Dortmund.

UEFA cameras caught the Portuguese defender arriving at the Etihad and heading into the stadium. Cancelo went out of his way to not step on the emblem, although some fans were puzzled.

During the pre-match coverage of the Real Madrid vs Chelsea game, Ferdinand predicted that Frank Lampard would not be given the Chelsea job permanently even if they win the Champions League this season.

“Speaking to Frank and knowing him like I do, this is where he wants to be,” Ferdinand said. “He wants to be managing and in the dugout dictating things from there. He was obviously a great player, but he’ll want to replicate that as a manager.”

Lampard was appointed as Chelsea’s interim manager following the sacking of Graham Potter, but before then, he had been sacked by former Chelsea owner, Roman Abramovich with Thomas Tuchel appointed as his successor.

Chelsea will now take on Real Madrid in the second leg of their quarter-final clash at Stamford Bridge next week, with Real holding a two-goal advantage after winning 2-0 on the night.