AFP – Virgil van Dijk saluted Liverpool’s “calm” response to conceding an early goal against AC Milan as they bounced back to win 3-1 in their Champions League opener.
Liverpool captain Van Dijk had admitted his side looked like they had no plan during a shock 1-0 home defeat against Nottingham Forest in the Premier League last weekend.
And the Netherlands centre-back was concerned again after Christian Pulisic gave Milan the lead after just three minutes in the San Siro.
To the defender’s relief, Liverpool stuck to boss Arne Slot’s game-plan and equalised through Ibrahima Konate before Van Dijk and Dominik Szoboszlai scored to wrap up the victory.
Asked if it was the perfect response to the Forest game, Van Dijk said: “No, not after three minutes. But after three minutes I think it was very good in so many ways.
“We stayed calm, played how we wanted to play rather than running around looking like we have absolutely no plan like we did, especially in the last 20 to 30 minutes in the second half of the last game, when you can play for another hour and you won’t score.”
Van Dijk, 33, insisted he was never worried about the criticism that accompanied the Forest defeat, which came after Liverpool had won the first three games of the Slot era without conceding a goal.
“It is about delivering today and tomorrow and if you don’t then the pressure comes from the outside but we have to stay calm.
“I have a big role in that, the manager himself has a role in that but at the end of the day we, as players, have to show it on the pitch.”
