Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk was speaking after the Champions League quarter-final 2-0 first-leg loss at Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday night
Virgil van Dijk speaks to the media after the Champions League quarter-final first leg match between Paris Saint-Germain and Liverpool at Parc des Princes on April 08, 2026 in Paris, France(Image: Stuart Franklin – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)
Virgil van Dijk has called on Liverpool to channel the spirit of their 4-0 win over Barcelona in 2019 if they are to have any chance of another famous Champions League comeback against Paris Saint-Germain next week.
PSG beat the Reds 2-0 at the Parc des Princes in the first leg of their quarter-final tie on Wednesday night. It leaves Arne Slot’s side needing a huge turnaround at Anfield on Tuesday (April 14) against the current European champions..
Van Dijk insists a comeback is not beyond Liverpool, challenging his colleagues to repeat the club’s semi-final feat from seven years ago when they fought back from a three-goal deficit to stun Barcelona at Anfield and qualify for that season’s Champions League final.
“Back then, you play one of the best teams in Europe, with obviously one of the best players ever in that team (Lionel Messi) and we had injuries like you said,” the Reds skipper said.
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“And now we play against the best team in Europe. They’re obviously the European champion, so I think it is similar in terms of, on paper, probably no-one gives us a chance.
“So it starts with the belief, it starts with the belief that comes within yourself. Starts with the belief that we get from our manager, the right game plan, and the intensity that we have to put in from the second one to the last if you really want to achieve something.
“That’s what I want. And that’s what I’m gonna tell my boys. We have to show it. We have show the desire, show the fight – that’s the least you have to do as a Liverpool player.
“Sixteen defeats (this season) – it’s unacceptable. It’s the reality. It’s the big reality, and that’s obviously why it’s so disappointing. And it’s very tough to deal with it.
“Things will eventually always come to an end, including my time at a certain point. So it’s, at the moment, the reality is that we are inconsistent. We are losing too many games. We’re having some good moments, and we don’t stay consistent in that sense.
“But there was a time also before we had all those good years, and we came out of that as well as a club. So, it’s down to us as players, down to the players down there as well to actually realize that we have to do it all together. We need each other.
“At the moment, listen, we lose too many games, the performances have just not been good and we are struggling to find consistency. It’s not easy. It’s not easy. But the reality is it is like that, and you have to own up to it, deal with it, and improve it.”
Van Dijk added: “I think our performance against Galatasaray very recently… obviously, it’s a different quality team that we face with all due respect.
“But also the game we played against them (PSG) last year. We lost on penalties, but if you analyse that game we started the game so well, full of energy, created the biggest chance for Mo Salah when Nuno Mendes blocked the ball. That could have changed the game.
“But at the end of the day, you need everything clicking together to turn this around because we play against a team that is just outstanding in every department.
“But it also comes back to yourself, and to the belief, and the pride: We are Liverpool. That’s why this particular moment hurts so much personally, and it should hurt as well for each and everyone there in the dressing room.”
Liverpool head coach Slot started the game with all three of his senior centre-backs on the pitch as he played a back five with Van Dijk alongside Joe Gomez and Ibrahima Konate.
On the tactical tweak, the captain said: “[We worked on it] the last two days, basically. Obviously, with the way they play with a lot of rotations, six players or even more, eight players, not fixed in one position.
“They go everywhere, from (Achraf) Hakimi who goes from right back to left wing, or Mendes from left back to number 10 or whatever, so you have to follow, you have to find your moment to press.
“I think we could have done better in that sense because there were moments that we could have done much better so that’s something that we need to start to analyse so that we have a better plan for creating opportunities on Tuesday.
“I think if you look at that game at the weekend, then things couldn’t get much worse today. Not that is the mentality, of course, but I think we have the players that can play in the system.
“I don’t think up until the (first) goal – and it was early on with a massive deflection – there were any issues, but then you have to try and stay calm, and wait for all the opportunities, and they didn’t come.
“That’s also the reality, I don’t think we had one show on target, so that’s obviously not good at all. But like I said, I think the only positive thing from tonight is that there is another game to be played next week.”
