Virgil van Dijk reflects on Liverpool’s 2025: Diogo Jota, Premier League title and more | OneFootball

Liverpool in 2025: Virgil van Dijk’s Year of Extremes

Liverpool entered 2025 in transition, Arne Slot had taken the reins in the summer of 2024, steadying a club still adjusting to life after Jurgen Klopp’s departure. By April, the questions had evaporated. Liverpool answered emphatically, dismantling Tottenham 5-1 at Anfield to seal the 2024/25 Premier League title. It made Virgil van Dijk the first Liverpool captain to lift the league trophy at home since 1990, a moment that elevated him from elite defender to generational leader. Speaking to The Times, he said:

“For a spell around the time we drew against Aston Villa 2-2 in February, there was a lot of negativity around. I felt it a little bit. It just didnn’t feel right, but that changed in the weeks after and the build-up to the Spurs game, when we knew we could win the title, was incredible.”

The season delivered personal validation too, a fresh two-year contract, and a haul of individual awards, including selection in the 2025 PFA Team of the Year and the Fifpro World XI. Van Dijk, now 34, had been spoiled by success before, but this one felt weightier, his family had lived every tackle, every doubt, every late-night recovery session, right beside him.

“The moment when the final whistle went was incredible. Relief, joy. I always go over to Ali [Alisson] at the end of a game. Nine out of ten times I’m always the first one to go to Ali. At that particular moment I went to him he was with Wata [Wataru Endo] as well and I had a little tear in my eye.”

Tragedy at Celebrations, Loss of Diogo Jota

Liverpool’s title parade in May should have been a victory lap, red smoke, pounding chants, sun-soaked joy, instead, it became a moment of turmoil. Van Dijk referenced “terrible events at the title parade when we were worried for the fans”, a sobering counterpoint to sporting euphoria.

Then came tragedy. In July 2025, Diogo Jota died in a car crash alongside his brother, Andre Silva. The loss left Liverpool grieving far beyond football, numbness replacing celebration, silence replacing song, until eventually the songs returned, but for a different reason, remembrance, unity, legacy.

Photo: IMAGO

“Diogo meant a lot to me, to the team, to the club. I think that’s pretty obvious, first and foremost, as a person. He was an incredible person. With the way he was and behaved, he didnn’t feel like he was from Portugal. The lads said he was more Scottish , McJota!”

Liverpool will honour Jota throughout 2025 and beyond, his locker preserved at both the training ground and Anfield, a stadium memorial planned, tributes already sung by supporters on 20 minutes during matches. Van Dijk has embraced that responsibility, observing, listening, supporting, ensuring grief becomes fuel, not fracture.

“In the months after, you try to be the best version of yourself, being there for the players, for the team, for the staff, but especially for Rute [Jota’s widow]. You want to make sure everyone is looked after.”

Leadership, Criticism, Generational Pressure

Liverpool’s 2025/26 campaign has not been a smooth continuation. A 4-1 Champions League defeat to PSV in November stung personally for the captain. The title defence has been marked by inconsistency, noise around recruitment, tactical questions, and occasional missteps, but Van Dijk rejects the narrative that teams have solved Liverpool.

“I really don’t believe that teams are figuring us out.”

Criticism has followed him, including commentary from former pros on television, a world now amplified by clicks and platforms that multiply every sentence, particularly when spoken by a legend of the game. Van Dijk sees the risk for younger players, urging protection, perspective, boundaries.

“Critics have a responsibility not to cross the line.”

Liverpool in 2025 has been football at its most human, triumph, tragedy, pressure, pride, all intertwined, a club moving forward together, led by a captain determined to keep standards high, voices calm, and legacies eternal.