Casemiro Responds To Carragher Bitter Comments Over Champions League Success

Casemiro has linked Jamie Carragher’s past criticism to possible frustration over Champions League defeats, while continuing a strong final season for Manchester United. The 34-year-old midfielder confirms this campaign will be the last at Old Trafford, yet recent performances in 2026 have brought widespread praise after earlier doubts about Casemiro’s level.

Carragher’s initial comments arrived in 2024, when Casemiro’s performances appeared to dip. At that stage, the Sky Sports pundit questioned whether the midfielder could still operate at elite standard. "I always remember the saying 'leave the football before the football leaves you.' The football has left him. At this top level, he needs to call it a day at this level and move," Carragher said on Sky Sports at the time.

Those remarks were raised with Casemiro during an interview with TNT in Brazil this week. Casemiro suggested the tone might relate to Real Madrid repeatedly denying Liverpool in European finals. Madrid beat Carragher’s former club to several Champions League titles during Casemiro’s time in Spain, which Casemiro believes may still influence views.

"Everyone says whatever they want on television. I'm not someone who gets involved in that," he said. "But it's a bit normal, because I won two Champions League titles over his team. Maybe after you win two titles against his club, there's still some bitterness there. I respect his opinion. I don't hold any resentment. The important thing is that he recognised he was wrong and changed his opinion. That's what matters most."

Casemiro has also continued to highlight performances on the pitch, including in front of home supporters. A message on social media followed one dramatic match at Old Trafford, underlining that sense of occasion for the midfielder and the crowd.

Across Casemiro’s United spell since joining from Real Madrid in 2022, the midfielder has played 159 matches in all competitions. During that period, Casemiro has scored 26 goals and supplied 13 assists. This season alone, Casemiro has nine goals from 34 outings, reflecting a clear upturn from the difficulties that sparked Carragher’s 2024 verdict.

Earlier in the current campaign, Carragher publicly softened that stance and acknowledged Casemiro’s improvement. The former Liverpool defender reflected on the midfielder’s conditioning and admitted Casemiro now looks much sharper than during that poor spell. Carragher accepted that any comeback from Casemiro over the earlier criticism would be understandable.

Earlier this season, Carragher said:Casemiro is well within his rights to, if he wants to come back at me and say 'leave the punditry before the punditry's left you!' He could definitely get one of those back in. Credit to him, he looks a completely different player. He looks like a different player physically as well. Even when I said that, you looked at him and he looked like an old man coming to the end of his time as a player. And whether he let himself go a little bit, or now he's being ultra professional, physically, he looks completely different.

Casemiro now heads towards the end of the 2025-26 season balancing personal pride with past criticism. The midfielder has underlined respect for Carragher while hinting at old Champions League battles as a factor. With one final campaign at Manchester United nearing its close, Casemiro’s late surge in form has reshaped the discussion around that earlier debate.