Rio Ferdinand took the bait as he responded to Douglas Luiz’ social media callout following Aston Villa’s Champions League qualification.
Villa were unable to secure a spot in Europe’s premier club competition in front of their own fans at Villa Park on Monday night despite an inspired fightback from 3-1 down to draw with Liverpool.
However, the players were able to celebrate their achievement together as Villa’s end of season awards night coincided with Tottenham Hotspur losing 2-0 to Manchester City.
Spurs’ failure to win guaranteed Unai Emery‘s side a fourth-place finish in what has been a memorable season for the midlands club.
As Villa celebrated their Champions League spot, Luiz found time to go on ‘X’ to antagonise Rio Ferdinand and continue the pair’s ongoing feud.
The history behind Douglas Luiz and Rio Ferdinand’s exchange
The ongoing saga stems from when Ferdinand’s former club Manchester United beat Villa in February.
Ferdinand constantly wrote off Villa’s chances of a Champions League finish throughout the campaign, insisting that United would instead get top four.
That United win at Villa Park left United just six points off of Emery’s side at the time, leaving Ferdinand confident in the Red Devils’ chances of catching the Villans.
Luiz scored Villa’s goal that day to level the scores and celebrated by dropping to his knees in front of the United players.
Ferdinand took this as inflammatory and took to ‘X’ after United scored a late winner to post a picture of Luiz’ celebration with the caption: “You ok @dgoficial”.
Elmohamady retired in 2021 but is still employed by the club, operating in their commercial department, and further endeared himself to the fanbase by quoting Ferdinand’s original post about Luiz with the caption: “You ok big man”.
Luiz has the last laugh with Champions League secured
While Villa have now secured fourth spot in the Premier League, Manchester United are enduring a torrid time to further Ferdinand’s embarrassment.
The Old Trafford club look lost under Erik ten Hag and are currently eight in the league and outside of the European places.
They could still finish in the Europa League if they beat Chelsea and Brighton, but this seems unlikely given they have won just one of their last eight league games.
Ten Hag’s side also have a shot of silverware through the FA Cup but are underdogs as they face Manchester City.
Luiz was in the mood to rub salt in Ferdinand’s wounds and posted late last night: “I just came here to find out it @rioferdy5 is okay?”
The tongue-in-cheek post got a reply from the former United skipper soon after, as he posted a picture of himself lifting the Champions League trophy alongside the response: “Congrats @dgoficial… Champions League football thoroughly deserved next season.”
This will likely be the end of the ongoing back-and-forth between the pair, with Villa and Luiz have nothing left to prove.
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