Van Dijk on Napoli match: “It was a bit of a classic performance”

Virgil van Dijk believes Liverpool’s 1-0 home win against Napoli in the Champions League last night was a “classic performance” from the Reds.

Mohamed Salah’s brilliant solo effort was enough to see Jurgen Klopp’s side through to the last 16 of the competition, with Alisson Becker pulling off a vital last-minute save at the other end to preserve the scoreline.

And Van Dijk, who put in another excellent shift at centre-back, thinks Liverpool very much deserved to go through to the knockout stages.

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PARIS, FRANCE – Wednesday, November 28, 2018: Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk challenges for the ball during the Champions League match between Paris Saint-Germain and Liverpool FC at the Parc de Princes, Paris. (Photograph: François Mori/AP)

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“I think it was a bit of a classic performance,” said the Reds No.4, according to the Evening Standard.

“In the Champions League, in the home games we played, we showed our class. Big chances, a lot of pressure, a lot of great moments, and today as well.

“Like I said, they needed one goal so it could fall [apart], but in the end we did well and we got the job done.”

The Dutchman will unfortunately miss the first leg of Liverpool’s last-16 match after picking up a yellow card for a challenge on Dries Mertens.

However, van Dijk doesn’t think his tackle was as bad as has been made out.

“I don’t think it was a bad challenge at all,” he said. “Unfortunately I touched him, but I would never go in to hurt him or anything like that.

“I had the ball and obviously the wet pitch you slide through and I touched him but that’s football.

“Unfortunately I’m suspended now for the first game, I heard it after the game so I was a bit disappointed about that, but we have plenty of quality players to fill my gap.”

On the remainder of Liverpool’s 2018-19 campaign, during which they must compete on two major fronts, van Dijk said: “It’s something that we all want, it’s something that we are going to give everything for.

“We want to play on the highest level and the Champions League, other than the Premier League for us, is the highest level.

“We want to reach the maximum and hopefully do better than we did last year in the Champions League.

“You need to have dreams, you need to go for it, otherwise why would you be a footballer?

“It’s a great time to be a Liverpool fan or player. It’s tough but enjoy it and embrace it – these are the days you want to experience as a footballer and we are.”

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Source: anfieldhq.com