Liverpool Captain Van Dijk Rallies Anfield Ahead of PSG Challenge
The Reds take a 1-0 advantage into the home leg of their Round of 16 Champions League tie and will need Anfield at its best to see off PSG.
Liverpool take a slim 1-0 lead into the second leg of their Round of 16 Champions League tie against Paris Saint-Germain knowing they were outplayed in the first leg despite the score and will need to be better here to advance.
To help them do just that, captain Virgil van Dijk says that they’ll be counting on Anfield to be its usual loud self by rising to the occasion and helping the payers deliver another famous mid-week European night under the lights.
“Liverpool is a club which lives for big European nights and the aim tonight is a simple one: let’s add another to our collection,” Van Dijk said ahead of kickoff. “I personally have so many amazing Anfield memories when it comes to the Champions League.
“I remember wins over Manchester City and Roma in my first few months with the club. I remember Napoli and Barcelona in the season we became European champions, and more recently games against Benfica, Villarreal, Bayer Leverkusen, and Real Madrid.
“All of those nights had things in common. We were there testing ourselves against the very best teams, knowing that one slip could cost us everything. We had to combine quality with intensity, stay calm in certain moments and step it up in others.”
It will be the same tonight in a game pitting a PSG many see as the in-form side of the last few months—a reputation they backed up in the first leg—against a Liverpool many see as Europe’s best over this season as a whole so far.
Leg one on the road wasn’t Liverpool at their best, but tonight they will have Anfield behind them as they look to build on their one-goal lead knowing that any win or draw will be enough to see them through now and into the quarter-finals.
“I don’t think I need to say too much about the quality of our opponents,” the Liverpool captain added. “It was there for everybody to see in the first leg over in France, when we had to fight extremely hard from the first minute to the last.
“The atmosphere at Parc des Princes was really good, but I know what Anfield is capable of on a night like this and I can’t wait. So we will go out there and give it everything, and hopefully we can create another special Anfield night together.”
Source: liverpooloffside.sbnation.com
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