On Tuesday night, Europe’s premier club competition, the UEFA Champions League returned with the likes of Liverpool, AC Milan, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich all in action.Former Madrid and England midfielder Beckham joined the usual CBS Sports panel made up of Kate Abdo, Thierry Henry, Jamie Carragher and Micah Richards as a special guest.
Sitting in between Henry and Carragher, Beckham was asked if he was looking forward to the Champions League season.
The former midfielder replied: “I am, I always look forward to the Champions League season. I mean, I was lucky enough to play in the competition, win the competition and play in the competition with different teams.”
Presenter Abdo interrupted and asked: “Does it hurt you not seeing (Manchester) United in there?”
Beckham said: “It’s a little bit painful not seeing United, but they’re going through something, we’re too big too big to not to be back on this stage.
“So at some point, we have to be.”
Instead of the Champions League, United were in Carabao Cup third-round action on Tuesday night as they thrashed League One side Barnsley at Old Trafford.
Marcus Rashford, Alejandro Garnacho and Christian Eriksen all netted a brace while Antony scored once as United sealed a comfortable 7-0 victory to seal their place in the next round.
Speaking after the match, Erik ten Hag said: “First of all, it was a difficult start but, once we found the shape, it’s not so weird because it’s the first time this team is playing together.
“But once we found the shape and the patterns, we scored some great goals, starting with [Marcus] Rashford which was a brilliant goal but I’d also say some other goals were really good. We played with a lot of speed and we were very ruthless in front of the goal.”
He added: “The key was finding the shape and, of course, the right attitude. We were 100 per cent concentrated and we certainly played very good.
“I think it was enjoyable to watch and also the fans they liked it and appreciated it. You could feel again the good bond between the team and the fans and we gave the fans some nice goals.”
Richards and Carragher were in the studio for the opening night of Champions League action, alongside Thierry Henry and host Kate Abdo – who has changed her last name to Scott after her marriage to boxing trainer Malik Scott.
She briefly stopped the coverage to announce the arrival of a special guest to the programme.
The show will be on air for the Champions League final and the second legs of the semi-finals.
His appearance in the studio itself at the beginning of Tuesday’s show left pundits Jamie Carragher and Micah Richards delighted, as they were reunited with their former international team-mate.
But their faces metaphorically fell when Beckham revealed who his favourite member of the team is.
He began: “I’m really glad to be on the show. I watch the show, and I admire how you guys bring it to life. I think that’s what entices people to watch – it’s exciting and it’s different every time you watch a game.
“For me to be a part of this team – I’m not a pundit, I don’t think I’ve ever been good enough to be a pundit – to be part of this team, it’s special.
When Richards asked him to explicitly name his favourite, Beckham replied: “The Manchester United fan.”
The United legend was, of course, referring to Kate Scott – the former Kate Abdo after she changed her name following her marriage to boxing trainer Malik Scott.
Henry, Carragher and Richards still have emotional ties to Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City, meaning that, as much as Beckham has respect for them, there was only one member of the team he could choose.