Phil Thompson has lashed out at fellow Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville over his comments in the build up to Liverpool’s 3-1 win away to Bayern Munich on Wednesday night.
A brace from Sadio Mane and a header from Virgil van Dijk, who set up his teammates’ opening goal, secured Jurgen Klopp victory in his home country and qualification to the quarter finals of the Champions League.
With Neville having said on his Sky podcast that Liverpool would be best off dropping out the competition to focus on the Premier League, Thompson launched a stinging jibe to the former Manchester United man.
Speaking on Sky Sports’ Soccer Special (13:03, 22:01) after victory in Germany, he said: “It says that they wanted to progress Mr Neville, if you are watching, and that they didn’t want to give it up for the Premier League title.
“If Man City made a statement last night against Schalke, seventh in the league, this is Bayern Munich who are going for the title. This was making a massive statement. An absolutely fantastic performance.”
Opinion
Liverpool v Manchester United is one of the most fiercely contested rivalries in Europe, let alone just in England, and so it should come as no surprise to see Thompson taking his chance to shoot down Neville. The former Old Trafford star was probably making his comments tongue in cheek because there was absolutely no way that Liverpool were going to lie back and let Bayern beat them without any competition. Yes, if the German giants had won, then there would be a silver lining for Klopp and his men but the fact of the matter is that the Anfield side want glory on as many fronts as possible – including the Champions League. With the talent they have running through their side there is no reason they cannot challenge Europe’s greatest sides to go one step further than last season and pick up that trophy. As for the Premier League, they have just got to do better than Manchester City.