Van Dijk on PSG: “We’re not going to go there for a draw”

Virgil van Dijk wants to win with Liverpool in Paris tomorrow night.

In an interview with LiverpoolFC.com, the towering Dutch centre-back revealed how the Liverpool squad are aiming for a win over their Group C rivals Paris Saint-Germain, with a draw meaning the final group standings would be determined when Liverpool welcome Napoli to Anfield and Red Star Belgrade host PSG.

And according to Van Dijk, Liverpool are not going to the Parc des Princes to rest on their laurels.

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SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND – Sunday, February 11, 2018: Liverpool’s manager Jürgen Klopp and Virgil van Dijk after the FA Premier League match between Southampton FC and Liverpool FC at St. Mary’s Stadium. (Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)

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“We want to win in Paris,” said Van Dijk. “We’re not going to go there for a draw; we’re not going there for anything else other than trying to produce a good performance and trying to win the game.

“It’s going to be unbelievably tough because they are still unbeaten in the league and haven’t lost at home for a long time.

“I think personally we need to play our own game, try to put them under pressure and stop them from doing what they’re good at, which is playing football. We will see what happens on the night.

“It’s going to be a fantastic game with fantastic players all over the pitch. I am looking forward to it. These are the games you want to play in – you don’t want to be sitting at home watching them, you want to be playing in them. We have the chance to show that on Wednesday night.

“It’s the highest level in Europe. It’s something special. With the fans, it’s something you want to be part of – and you want to hopefully win it as well.

“We need to show we’ve learned from our last two away games in the Champions League. I think we will. I am very confident we can produce a good performance.”

When asked if the exclusion of Kylian Mbappe and Neymar could affect PSG’s chances, Van Dijk said: “They have plenty of good players throughout their squad. We will see if they play. They are obviously quality players and we need to respect that, but they still have other fantastic players to cover them.

“We need to focus on ourselves and make sure we’re ready to press them, to try to make sure they can’t play their game and we will see if that will be the case.”

Of the home win at Anfield, the No.4 added: “I was obviously very happy in the end that we got the winner,” he recalled. “To have drawn would have been a bit of a sore moment.

“It was a fantastic game. They have good players, so they will have their chances and their moments, but we were the stronger side I think and in the end we deserved the win.”

Van Dijk admitted that Liverpool let themselves down against Napoli and Red Star, but is confident the Reds have learned from their mistakes.

“We played poorly against Napoli and against Red Star, we conceded the first goal and that was the key of the whole game I think,” he explained. “If we’d scored our first chance, then it could have been totally different.

“But credit to them. Their fans went crazy after [they scored] and it helped them – with every tackle they won, they were cheering. It was something they did well that night and we weren’t at our best.

“Sometimes you need to give credit to the opposition; we weren’t good enough on the night, but it doesn’t worry me – we just need to show we’ve learned from it and produce a good performance in Paris. As I said, I’m confident we will.”

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Source: anfieldhq.com