Van Dijk’s Ram blast

VIRGIL VAN DIJK is the latest Liverpool player to taunt Sergio Ramos – telling the Spain hatchet man that he is not even the best centre-back at Real Madrid.

A number of Anfield stars still blame Ramos for injuring Mo Salah in the Champions League Final in May, which Liverpool lost 3-1.

Van Dijk said: “Ramos is a great player and I respect what he has achieved – but he is not the best.

“He is not my type of central defender, I would not defend like Ramos does. I try to avoid the kind of situations in which he excels and I don’t even try to make sliding tackles.

“Ramos’ team-mate Raphael Varane is my favourite. He is an excellent defender and has already won a lot.”

And Kop defender Dejan Lovren swapped insults with Ramos before and after Croatia’s thrilling 3-2 Nations League victory over Spain on Thursday night.

Van Dijk insists the Liverpool result in Ukraine could have been different if Salah had stayed on.

He feels that the loss of the forward stripped the Reds of their top goalscorer and allowed Madrid to target rookie full-back Trent Alexander-arnold.

Van Dijk said: “I do not know if it was deliberate, but something changed when Salah came off.

“Suddenly, Marcelo, Benzema and Ronaldo all appeared on Trent and released the entire right side.”