Rio Ferdinand posts two-word tweet on Paris Saint-Germain’s controversial penalty decision from his hospital bed – after missing out on Champions League clash with Arsenal
Rio Ferdinand is in hospital and will be absent from TNT Sports’ coverage of Arsenal’s trip to PSG in the Champions League.
The Manchester United legend shared a selfie from his hospital bed with one thumb up.
Ferdinand, 46, offered no indication as to what his health situation was or how long he would be in hospital for.
He posted on X: ‘Gutted to be missing the Semi-Finals this week on TNT Sports!!
‘Wishing the team all the best — I’ll be watching every minute from the iPad!’
Ferdinand was part of TNT Sports’ coverage of Aston Villa’s 1-0 win over Fulham in Birmingham on Saturday.
He was also in Bilbao as Manchester United beat Athletic Club 3-0 last Thursday.
‘Get well soon, Rio,’ his employers wrote, as hundreds more supportive comments flooded in.
Martin Keown, Jack Wilshere and Owen Hargreaves were on punditry duty for TNT’s coverage of the clash in Paris, presented by Laura Woods.
Arsenal will hope for a better performance than last week, which saw them slump to a 1-0 home defeat by PSG.
Mikel Arteta decided against resting his key stars at the weekend, when they lost 2-1 to Bournemouth at the Emirates.
Martin Odegaard, Jurrien Timber and Riccardo Calafiori all took part in training on Tuesday in what has been billed a triple injury boost.
However, PSG have good news of their own as star man Ousmane Dembele, who scored in the reverse fixture, has recovered from a hamstring issue.
The France forward has been emblematic of the transformation of Luis Enrique’s side since the turn of the year and has registered 33 goals and 10 assists in all competitions this term.
In a medical update on Friday, a statement from PSG read: ‘Ousmane Dembele has strained his right hamstring. His condition in progressing well. A further assessment will be carried out shortly.’
Arteta urged his side to use the disappointment of Saturday’s defeat to spur them on for Wednesday’s Parc des Princes clash.
‘We certainly wanted to create a really good vibe, a positive result would really help us to build what we wanted towards Wednesday,” the Spanish coach said at the weekend.
‘So what we have created now is a lot of rage, anger, frustration and a bad feeling in the tummy. So make sure that we use that for Wednesday to have a massive performance in Paris, win the game and be in the final.’
The winner of the tie will face Inter Milan in Munich on May 31.