Rio Ferdinand learned that one legendary former player was “really scared” about his role in a crucial match against Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United side.
The 46-year-old TNT Sports pundit is considered one of the best Premier League defenders of all time and Rio Ferdinand had a sensational run at Old Trafford.
Ferdinand broke the British transfer record for the second time in his career after Manchester United signed him from Leeds United for a £30m transfer fee in 2002.
The United legend spent the large majority of his prolific playing spell at the Red Devils under legendary former United and Aberdeen manager Sir Alex Ferguson.
Ferdinand was a key defensive figure for the 83-year-old iconic Scotsman and the former United and England defender excelled in the heart of defence at Old Trafford.
During his time at the Red Devils, Ferdinand lifted six Premier League titles, a Champions League trophy and two League Cups before his United exit in 2014.
The ex-England international briefly played for Queens Park Rangers before he called it time on his legendary playing career in 2015.
What Rio Ferdinand learned about Man Utd’s Champions League final defeat under Sir Alex Ferguson is a real eye-opener
Rio Ferdinand played the full 90 minutes alongside fellow Manchester United legend Nemanja Vidic in the 2009 Champions League defeat to Barcelona in Rome.
Samuel Eto’o opened the scoring for Barcelona in the 10th minute before Lionel Messi scored a memorable header in the 70th minute at the Stadio Olimpico in Italy.
Manchester City and Premier League legend Yaya Toure played alongside former United defender Gerard Pique in the Barcelona backline instead of midfield.
Barcelona legend Carles Puyol had been forced out to right-back after Dani Alves’ absence from the Champions League final and Rafael Marquez was out due to injury.
Yaya Toure played the full 90 minutes in the Barcelona defence and he told Ferdinand that he felt immense pressure on his shoulders in the 2-0 final win.
Speaking on Rio Ferdinand Presents, Toure said: “Of course, yeah, I have the courage but, to be honest, I have to tell you the truth: I was really scared. I was really, really scared.
“It was my first time to play at centre-back in a Champions League final, you know.
“If we lost it, it would be, ‘There was an inexperienced player there and a player of a very young age in that position,’ and it was all coming down to me.”
Wayne Rooney revealed his reaction to Sir Alex Ferguson’s Man Utd tactics for the 2009 Champions League final defeat to Barcelona
Speaking to Jamie Carragher, Wayne Rooney said that the Red Devils players were stunned by Ferguson’s approach for the match against Barcelona in the 2009 final.
“We are Manchester United and we are not going into the Champions League final to sit back all game. We are going to attack them and do it the right way,” he told The Daily Telegraph in 2020, as part of Jamie Carragher’s ‘The Greatest Games’ book.
“We were all sitting there in the team meeting thinking: ‘Oh f—.’ Sir Alex went through their side, saying ‘let’s go at them.’
“Then you saw the names like Messi, Eto’o and Henry! I was like: ‘F—— ’ell, how much pace do you want in one team?’”
United would meet Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona side for a repeat of the 2009 Champions League final in 2011 and the Spanish club sealed a 3-1 win at Wembley.
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