Virgil van Dijk didn’t have his usual stormer for Liverpool last night.
Ruud Gullit believes that Virgil van Dijk is responsible for the goal that saw Liverpool lose 1-0 at Atletico Madrid on Tuesday night, describing his performance as a ‘nightmare’.
Saul Niguez’s winner after four minutes was enough for the Spanish side to draw first blood in the first leg of last night’s last-16 Champions League tie.
It was Van Dijk’s shanked clearance which led to the corner that ultimately cost Liverpool victory, with the Dutch defender also the closest defender to Saul when he tapped home from close range.
And his legendary countryman Gullit believes that the £75 million centre-back, who joined the Reds from Southampton two years ago, was a bit on the ‘clumsy’ side last night.
He told Bein Sport: “Van Dijk has a nightmare today. I saw him doing things that were like….ooh. I think the first goal, when he gives it away. It was clumsy a little bit. Not necessary.”
Despite the first-leg led, Atletico are far from through to the quarter-finals and Diego Simeone will know that.
This is a Liverpool side that lost 3-0 to Barcelona at the semi-final stage in Camp Nou last season, but won 4-0 at Anfield to progress into the final, where they ultimately won the competition for a sixth time.
Jurgen Klopp’s side undeniably have the quality and pedigree to turn this around in two weeks, but a solid performance from Van Dijk is paramount. An away goal on the night could make it very tricky.
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