Thierry Henry made Micah Richards visibly emotional after he delivered a heartfelt speech during CBS Sports' broadcast of the Champions League.
Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Liverpool and Atletico Madrid all booked their spots in the next round of the Champions League.
Premier League sides Newcastle United and Tottenham were eliminated from the competition.
The usual crew of Henry, Richards and host Kate Scott - minus Jamie Carragher who was at Anfield - fronted CBS Sports' coverage of Wednesday's second leg last-16 ties.
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When Scott introduced the panel to the viewers, the Arsenal legend interrupted her before asking if he could do her job.
In doing so, Henry called Richards his favourite person on the show and praised how he dealt with his injury issues during the end of his professional career. The emotional moment ended with a hug.
"My favourite person on the show was Chloe. For those who don't know, Chloe is the girl that helps me to do the analysis. And she does it ever so well. And I'm sure she won't mind me saying that you are my favourite on this show. I'll tell you that," he told the ex-Manchester City star, who replied: "You got me all emotional."
On his injuries that cut short his professional career, Richards added: "I'm a positive person. And at the time, I was struggling emotionally, mentally, and all that sort of thing. But I just tried to see the positives in life. And that's what I like to do, uplift people.
"I had my first operation when I was like 17, 18. And then it carried on for all my career. But then I retired. My last game was when I was 29."
Asked what forced him into retirement, he replied: "When I was basically draining fluid from my knee every three days. And, yeah, I knew. And the doctor was saying to me, you're not going to be able to run around with your kids when they get older.
"So, you need to be careful. I didn't listen to him. I kept doing it. God, I just love football so much. And then I officially retired when I was 31. My last game was when I was 29."
Henry later asked Richards what his escape was amid his injury nightmare to which he replied with a candid answer.
"Drink... I mean, I don't know how much time we've got. But it caught me off guard. I was drinking a lot to sort of mask it," revealed the 37-year-old. "I had a good friend, actually. He's called Madge. And he sort of put my life into perspective in terms of like, 'are you happy? Have you got your family around you?'
"It's not all the other stuff that come around. It was just a facade. You know what I mean? It was all the bells and whistles that come with being a professional footballer.
"But it made me look at life differently in terms of there's more to life than cars and houses. And it's about relationships and the people around you. So I definitely looked at things a little bit differently. But then, in the end, I'm a positive person."
Topics: Thierry Henry, Micah Richards, Football, Champions League
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