Liverpool captain Van Dijk makes ‘absolutely no plan’ admission after AC Milan victory

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk was pleased with the team’s return to the Champions League after they beat AC Milan 3-1 at the San Siro.

Liverpool went behind early through a goal from former Chelsea man Christian Pulisic, and it seemed for a moment that Arne Slot’s side may have been staring at two defeats on the trot having lost last weekend at home to Nottingham Forest.

The Reds were resilient, and Van Dijk was impressed with how they quickly turned it around.

He said: “We stayed calm, played how we wanted to play rather than running around looking like we have absolutely no plan like we did especially in the last 20 to 30 minutes in the second half of the last game when you can play for another hour and you won’t score.”

Slot and his men went into the international break unbeaten, having not conceded a single goal in the opening three games of the Premier League season, thrashing rivals Manchester United at Old Trafford, though the loss against Forest was a poor setback just two home games into Slot’s reign.

Fortunately for Slot, he has senior players like Van Dijk, Alisson and Mo Salah to rely on in difficult moments; a trio who saw huge success under the management of Jurgen Klopp.

Van Dijk understands the pressure of playing for such a big club, having been at Anfield since January 2018.

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He said: “It is about delivering today and tomorrow and if you don’t then the pressure comes from the outside but we have to stay calm.

“I have a big role in that, the manager himself has a role in that but at the end of the day we, as players, have to show it on the pitch.”

The defeat against Forest was remarkably just the third loss Van Dijk has suffered at Anfield as a Liverpool player, and his importance was shown when the Dutchman missed a large part of the 2020/21 season, with Liverpool finishing in third place in a poor defence of their Premier League title win.

In the win against Milan, Van Dijk netted just minutes before half time to turn the game on its head after centre-back partner Ibrahima Konate found the equaliser.

Van Dijk admits he and Konate should both find the net more.

He said: “Me and Ibou are both six foot four or whatever and we should score from every ball that comes into the box but sometimes you get double-marked and the delivery is not always perfect and you have to fight for it.”