Kostas Tsimikas was handed his first start for AS Roma in their Europa League clash against OGC Nice on Wednesday night, and the Liverpool left-back made an instant impact
In recent years, whenever Liverpool have been squaring up against their arch-rivals Manchester United, there’s one certainty you could almost always tick off your bingo card.
The sight of legendary Red Devils gaffer Sir Alex Ferguson witnessing the latest defeat at the hands of a team he battled so fiercely to knock off their perch has become a favourite – and frequent – spectacle for telly broadcasters. Sure enough, whenever the Reds are getting one over on United, the cameras swiftly pan to a glum-looking Ferguson in the crowd.
Of course, he’s not the only one. With United’s struggles ongoing, more than 12 years after Ferguson’s retirement and their most recent Premier League title, Red Devils co-owner and Ineos boss Sir Jim Ratcliffe is also often an easy target for the cameras when enduring his club’s latest misfortune on the pitch.
But that’s not just limited to Old Trafford, with Ratcliffe and INEOS owning multiple clubs across Europe. As a result, the 72-year-old found himself cursing one Liverpool star this week despite the fact that the Reds weren’t even playing.
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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.
The Greek star wasted no time in leaving his mark as he provided an assist against the Ligue 1 side, delivering a brilliant cross from the left flank for Gianluca Mancini to fire home what proved to be the decisive goal.
The centre-half netted Roma’s second strike in the space of just three minutes to double their advantage. Despite Terem Moffi’s late penalty consolation, the Serie A side clung on for a 2-1 triumph to get their Europa League campaign off to a winning start.
After Tsimikas’ delivery led to Mancini’s opener, television cameras quickly cut to a clearly frustrated Ratcliffe watching from the stands as the United co-owner saw his second-biggest investment suffer a setback.
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Ratcliffe’s INEOS group assumed control at Nice in August 2019, but have experienced patchy results in France. Their best league position under his ownership stands at fourth in Ligue 1, whilst their most impressive European showing came with a Conference League quarter-final appearance in 2023/24.
Ratcliffe has faced criticism for his sporadic attendance at Nice fixtures previously, though he was clearly present at the Allianz Riviera on Wednesday evening, having also sparked debate by confessing his lack of enthusiasm for 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 revealed to The Times back in March.
Meanwhile, Tsimikas took to Instagram after the match to share a snap of himself celebrating Mancini’s goal, complete with yellow and red emojis in a nod to Roma’s home colours. Liverpool fans have recently spotted that he’s updated his bio on the social media platform to ‘Scouser in Rome’, showing his ongoing love for his parent club.
Despite being on loan at the Serie A team following Liverpool’s acquisition of Milos Kerkez, Roma do not have an option to buy him outright at the end of the season.
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