Jamie Carragher had to leave CBS Sports’ Champions League coverage early on Wednesday night, exiting at halftime and leaving Thierry Henry, Micah Richards, and host Kate Scott to carry on without him.
The Liverpool legend, who made 737 appearances for the club, appeared under the weather during the early part of the broadcast but managed to stay on until the halftime break when he decided to step away.
Carragher, 47, had returned to CBS Sports’ London studio following Liverpool’s elimination from the Champions League by Paris Saint-Germain the night before — a loss sealed by a flawless PSG penalty shootout. Despite Liverpool’s painful exit, Carragher was back on duty to analyze matches including Aston Villa’s 3-0 win over Club Brugge and Arsenal’s clash with PSV Eindhoven, following the Gunners’ dominant 7-1 victory in the first leg.
Though in good spirits at the start — even joking about an Arsenal-supporting train driver teasing him during his trip to the studio — Carragher ultimately had to leave due to illness. According to Mail Online, his condition, though not specified, was serious enough to prevent him from continuing on air.
When Richards and Henry playfully questioned Carragher’s sudden absence, Kate Scott informed both the panel and viewers that he had fallen ill and wouldn’t be returning for the remainder of the show.
Earlier in the broadcast, Scott had humorously welcomed Carragher back to the studio, making a playful reference to his return after Liverpool’s defeat: “Tonight, just like the story of the prodigal son… A bit too big for his boots, thought life would be sweeter on the road, took a major loss, and came home, humbled, hoping to be accepted — Jamie Carragher, back in the chair.”
Before his departure, Carragher also commented on Liverpool’s penalty shootout loss, questioning the coin toss that determined where and how the penalties were taken: “One thing I couldn’t work out with the penalties — there was a coin toss with Virgil van Dijk and PSG’s captain. PSG must’ve won it to take it to the other end [away from the Kop] and also took the first penalty. So I wasn’t quite sure what happened there,” he remarked.