UEFA Champions League

Van Dijk: Liverpool not worried over Champions League final opponent

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Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk
  • Post published:May 8, 2019

Virgil van Dijk insisted that Liverpool would be ready for whoever they faced in the Champions League final.

Van Dijk played a massive part as Jurgen Klopp’s men reach the decider for the second straight season with an extraordinary win over Barcelona on Tuesday, helping the club keep a clean sheet in the 4-0 win.

Divock Origi and Georginio Wijnaldum scored braces in the win at Anfield, sealing a 4-3 aggregate success in the semi-final, and sending the club to the Champions League final with shades of the past where they lost out last season to Real Madrid.

Liverpool will now be watching on Wednesday to see which of Ajax or Tottenham they will meet in June’s showpiece, but Van Dijk says they believe they can beat any team in the world.

‘We feel like [we can beat anyone] every time when we go out on the pitch,’ the star centre back said.

‘We’re not going out on the pitch to think that we’re not going to beat them.

‘It’s going to be a tough game for both of them [on Wednesday] and we’ll just see who is going to come to Madrid and we prepare.’

Midfielder Fabinho was also thrilled following the win, and thought the club had just pushed on with a similar style that saw them beaten in Barcelona.

‘We did not have a lot of time after a very difficult game in Newcastle, but we are preparing a whole season to experience moments like that,’ he told RMC Sport. ‘After the first game I told you that the result was not good, but that our performance was.

‘Today we tried to do the same thing, to press, to give everything, but we scored quickly and that made the difference. We still had the strength to keep the ball in the end. After the match, with our fans it was amazing.

‘Messi? The whole team defended, as I said, we left our life on the ground. I tried to do everything so that the ball does not reach him.’

Ajax hold a 1-0 lead over Spurs heading into their second leg at the Johan Cruijff ArenA on Wednesday, and have proven to be giant-slayers throughout the knockout rounds, taking out both Real Madrid and Juventus to reach the semi-final stage.