(Video) Virgil van Dijk taunts Tchouameni with pointed gesture during Liverpool victory | OneFootball

Virgil van Dijk was seen goading Aurelien Tchouameni during Liverpool’s win over Real Madrid on Tuesday night.

The French midfielder was involved in the most controversial moment of the match when he appeared to handle the ball just inside his penalty area shortly before half-time, only for the referee to overturn his original free kick decision upon consulting the pitchside VAR monitor.

Although BBC reporter Dale Johnson provided a thorough explanation of why a dropped ball was duly given to the away side, the final call by the officials seems perplexing, and it could’ve had major implications as the score was 0-0 at the time.

Van Dijk goads Tchouameni with ‘handball’ gesture

When Liverpool were awarded a free kick later in the match, Van Dijk took his opportunity to taunt Tchouameni.

The Reds captain spotted the Real Madrid number 14 at the edge of the defensive wall and held out his hands with palms facing outwards as if to say, ‘Try saving it with your arms; you’re good at that’.

The Frenchman appeared to notice that gesture from the LFC centre-back and responded by extending his left elbow.

Image via @mmtv40020 on X

Tchouameni was outshone by Liverpool’s midfield last night

Liverpool have been linked on and off with Tchouameni for some time without any serious transfer pursuit ever materialising, and the midfielder was one of his team’s better performers on a night when they were outclassed at Anfield.

As per Sofascore, the 25-year-old completed 100% of his dribbles and 91% of his passes, won two tackles and six of his eight duels, executed one key pass, made two clearances and two blocks.

Even at that, he was thoroughly outshone by positional counterparts Ryan Gravenberch and Alexis Mac Allister last night, with the Reds’ midfield duo looking as though they’re getting back to the world-class levels they showed throughout last season.

Privately, he’ll probably acknowledge that he was fortunate not to have given away a penalty in the first half, as Van Dijk was only too happy to remind him!

You can view Van Dijk’s humorous gesture to Tchouameni below, via @mmtv40020 on X:

You can watch Slot’s full post-Real Madrid press conference via Empire of the Kop on YouTube: