Van Dijk-led Liverpool set for City’s acid test
manchester — Virgil van Dijk has lived up to his billing as the world’s most expensive defender in his short Liverpool career, but shutting out a desperate Manchester City in the second leg of their Champions League quarterfinal on Tuesday will be his biggest test yet.
Runaway Premier League leaders City could line-up with the most expensive defence ever assembled for their rescue mission, but they may regret letting Van Dijk get away if they fail in their mammoth task to overturn a 3-0 first-leg deficit.
Liverpool beat off competition from City to sign Van Dijk for $106 million in January from Southampton, six months after their first attempt to land the Dutchman failed.
Jurgen Klopp was much-criticised early in the campaign for refusing to splash out on a back-up option to Van Dijk as Liverpool’s chances of challenging City for the title vanished quickly due to defensive deficiencies.
However, the German’s patience to get his prime target has been rewarded as Van Dijk has spearheaded a turnaround in Liverpool’s ability to keep opponents at bay.
“What we need at Liverpool are these kind of players who are leaders,” said Klopp recently on Van Dijk’s influence.
The Dutch captain will be examined to the full at the Etihad, though, where Liverpool lost 5-0 earlier in the season.
Klopp’s men were also thrashed 4-1 by Tottenham and involved in thrilling 3-3 draws at Arsenal and Sevilla as they were routinely torn apart on their toughest travels before Van Dijk’s arrival.
“It is pretty clear that defending a 3-0 lead is going to be a bit of a strange situation. We need to come here with the mindset it is still 0-0 and we want to win the game and we know we are capable of scoring goals,” Van Dijk said.
“We know also as a team we can defend well, pretty compact, we saw it in the second half at Anfield but the main thing is we definitely need to keep the mindset of winning the game instead of defending a lead.”
With City needing goals, Liverpool can expect to come under plenty of pressure from the outset but Van Dijk said even if they concede early, it is vital they do not panic.
“We need to stay calm. We are not going to think we are going to concede early, that is not the mindset we want to have going into the game,” he said.
“We know we need to be 100 percent, try to do the same things we did in the first half at Anfield and if we do that, everyone is ready for it, then it is going to be a difficult night for them as well.”
City conceded three second half goals on Saturday as they gave up a two goal lead at home to Manchester United in the Premier League but Klopp said that even in that bitter defeat, Guardiola’s side had shown their quality.
“If you saw the first half against United, in a normal game, against one of the best teams in the world, they could have scored six goals and maybe should have four at least,” the German manager said.
“We have to be at our best again. That is how it is. If it was how everyone expected, then we are already half way out and here to keep our pride and show a reaction.” — Reuters/AFP