Liverpool ended the league stage with a comfortable 6-0 win over Qarabag and booked their place in the last 16 of the Champions League, but Jamie Carragher remains dissatisfied.
Jamie Carragher wasn’t too happy with Liverpool’s Champions League opponents (Image: CBS Sports)
Jamie Carragher is happy with the new Champions League format, with Liverpool potentially facing either Atletico Madrid or Juventus in the next round. The Reds ended the league stage with an eye-catching 6-0 win against Qarabag on Wednesday night.
With this win, Liverpool finished in third place and automatically qualified for the last 16. And Arne Slott’s side already know their potential opponents for next round, with anything possible if play-off teams Atletico Madrid, Club Brugge, Galatasaray and Juventus advance.
However, Carragher was far from satisfied with the draw. “We just found out who Liverpool’s potential opponents are. To be honest, I’m tired of this new format,” he said on CBS.
“Last year we finished first and got Paris Saint-Germain. This year we finished third. Listen, we finished third with Atlético Madrid, Club Brugge, Galatasaray or Juventus.”
read more: Arne Slott infuriates Liverpool fans again with comments after Champions League qualificationread more: Liverpool discover four possible opponents for Champions League last 16 after defeating Qarabag
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Fellow pundit and former Manchester City star Micah Richards chimed in: “But are you the mighty Liverpool?”
Carragher replied: “What I’m saying is, if we finish third, we can’t have them, we can’t have Atletico Madrid or Juventus there. I’m sure you[Man City]think you’ve never seen a team in your life as lucky with draws as Man City. They get to the FA Cup final every year because they’re playing League Two clubs.”
After being told that City could face Bodo/Glimt, Benfica, Inter Milan or Real Madrid, Carragher started laughing and said: “I’ll take that.” That’s why Richards called him “Big Baby!”
Carragher was unhappy after the Champions League final (Image: CBS Sports)
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Carragher wasn’t too happy about Liverpool’s next opponents, but Reds boss Slott was just happy his team had avoided the play-offs.
Speaking after Wednesday’s win against Qarabag, he said: “If you start the Champions League season, that’s what you want – you want to finish in the top eight. Of course it helps, because you skip rounds and sometimes you play teams that are very difficult to play in those rounds. That’s evident from the teams I mentioned earlier.”
“So we are happy to be able to reach the last 16 so soon, especially because it was only two years ago that we played in the Europa League and were eliminated in the quarter-finals against Atalanta.
“So now we’re in the last 16 for the second season in a row, we were hungry for more signings last season and we’ll definitely be hungry for more this season.”
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