Liverpool star leaves Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe raging following rare decision
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In recent years, whenever Liverpool have been facing off against bitter-rivals Manchester United, more times than not you will have been able to tick off one certainty on your bingo card.
The sight of legendary Red Devils manager Sir Alex Ferguson witnessing the latest defeat at the hands of a side he fought so hard to knock off their perch has become a favourite - and frequent - spectacle for TV broadcasters.
Sure enough, whenever the Reds are getting the better of United, the cameras quickly pan to a sullen Ferguson in the crowd.
It wasn’t like this in the Scot’s day!
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Of course, he is not alone.
With Manchester United’s struggles continuing, now over 12 years on from Ferguson’s retirement and their latest Premier League title, Red Devils co-owner and NEOS boss Sir Jim Ratcliffle is also often an easy target for the cameras when suffering through his club’s latest misfortune on the pitch.
But that is not limited to just at Old Trafford, with Ratcliffe and INEOS owning multiple clubs across Europe.
As a result, the 72-year-old was left cursing one Liverpool star on Wednesday night despite the fact that Reds were not even in action.
Kostas Tsimikas joined AS Roma on loan from the Reds last month and was handed his first start for the club against OGC Nice - one of Ratcliffe and INEOS’ other clubs - in the Europa League this week.
And the Greek wasted little time in making an impact as he claimed an assist against the Ligue 1 club, setting up the would-be winner with a stunning cross from the left-wing for Gianluca Mancini to volley home.
The centre-back doubled Roma’s lead with their second goal in just three minutes.
And although Terem Moffi pulled one back late on from the penalty spot, the Serie A outfit held on to kickstart their Europa League campaign with a 2-1 win.
Following Tsimikas’ assist for Mancini, the TV cameras swiftly panned to a visibly unhappy Ratcliffe in the stands as the United co-owner witnessed his second-biggest club suffer defeat.
Ratcliffe’s NEOS group took over at Nice in August 2019, but have endured mixed success in France.
Their highest finish under their watch is fourth in Ligue 1, while their best performance in Europe came during a run to the Conference League quarter-finals in 2023/24.
Ratcliffe has been criticised for rarely attending Nice matches in the past, though he evidently was at the Allianz Riviera on Wednesday night, while he also caused controversy by admitting he does not enjoy French football earlier this year.
“I don't particularly enjoy going to watch Nice because there are some good players, but the level of football is not high enough for me to get excited,” he admitted to The Times back in March.
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Meanwhile, Tsimikas took to Instagram after the match to share a picture of himself celebrating Mancini’s goal, along with yellow and red emojis in reference to Roma’s home colours.
Reds supporters recently noticed how he has changed his bio on the social media platform to ‘Scouser in Rome’, with his affection for his parent club still clear.
While the Greek is on loan at the Serie A outfit following Liverpool’s signing of Milos Kerkez, Roma do not have an option to purchase him permanently at the end of the season.