Liverpool beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 on Saturday night.
Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk has told Goal that he thinks Harry Kane wasn’t at his best due to injury in Saturday’s Champions League final.
The Reds ran out 2-0 winners in Madrid, as Mohamed Salah and Divock Origi found the net to give Jurgen Klopp the Champions League trophy.
One of the big storylines in the game surrounded Kane, who returned from two months out with an ankle injury to start in Mauricio Pochettino’s attack.
Semi-final hat-trick hero Lucas Moura was benched for Kane, but the gamble didn’t work as Kane struggled to get much out of Van Dijk and co.
Intriguingly, Kane could now go head-to-head with Van Dijk again tonight, as England take on the Netherlands in the UEFA Nations League semi-finals in Portugal.
Starting again seems like a real risk, but Kane should be involved one way or another, and Van Dijk has now offered his verdict on the striker’s display in the Champions League final.
Van Dijk praised Kane, branding him ‘fantastic’, but noted that he knew Kane wouldn’t be 100 per cent fit, and thinks it played on Kane’s mind during Tottenham’s defeat, hampering his performance.
“Harry Kane is a fantastic striker, I think one of the best in England,” said Van Dijk. “And I think he’s definitely the best striker England have for the national team. But I also know that if you’re not 100 per cent fit, then it’s going to be in your head if you get a little knock or you pass and you get a little bit of pain.”
“It’s going to be in your head, so obviously I expected him to play the final, but I knew he was not going to be 100 per cent. I don’t know if he’s playing tomorrow, but if he is, then we’ll see how we’re going to manage,” he added.
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