Virgil van Dijk praises ‘dangerous’ Liverpool performance against Atletico Madrid | OneFootball

Van Dijk Praises Liverpool Performance After Late Anfield Winner

Virgil van Dijk rose highest when it mattered most, heading home a 92nd-minute winner to secure a 3-2 victory over Atletico Madrid and ignite another memorable European night at Anfield.

Van Dijk Reflects on Dramatic Night

Liverpool raced into a two-goal lead after just six minutes through Andy Robertson and Mohamed Salah, but Marcos Llorente’s brace hauled Atletico level. It left van Dijk to settle matters, thundering in a Dominik Szoboszlai corner in front of the Kop.

Photo IMAGO

Speaking afterwards, van Dijk said: “We kept pushing, pushing for the 3-1 and obviously to concede an equaliser, massively deflected, was obviously not great. But we found a way again and I think we were dangerous in set-pieces. They were pretty aggressive, I must say. But I’m glad I got the winner.”

Praise for Liverpool Resilience

Van Dijk was quick to highlight the spirit shown by his teammates. “Eventually you have to keep going and show the resilience that we have been showing throughout many years. It was another great European night here at Anfield.”

He recognised the quality of the opposition and how fine the margins were: “They have quality players that can punish you if you’re not there in a split second. Obviously they punished us just before the break and after the break we tried to go for the 3-1 but obviously they got a bit of confidence from that as well.”

Importance of Winning Start

The Liverpool captain underlined the significance of beginning the campaign strongly. “I think we’ve shown many times that we are capable of doing it. Today I was the lucky one with the winner. We move on. It’s always good to get off to a winning start. We play at home, it’s a good game, it’s a good opponent. Another game ticked off, three points.”

With van Dijk leading from the front, Liverpool’s mix of quality, mentality and determination continues to set the tone in Europe.