Lionel Messi highlights what makes Virgil van Dijk one of the best

Virgil van Dijk has turned our fortunes around ever since he joined from Southampton.

Jurgen Klopp had to wait an extra six months to land the defender after we had to apologise for trying to sign him, but it was well worth it.

The Dutch defender helped us win the Champions League last season and we also had one of the best defensive records in Europe.

Our Champions League journey featured some great wins, and the one over Barcelona will remain etched in memory. Lionel Messi got the better of the Reds in the first leg but the second one was all ours.

Van Dijk kept Barcelona in check in the second game and Messi told Marca what makes the Dutch defender so good (h/t Liverpool Echo):

“He is a defender that knows how to judge the timing and wait for the right moment to get in or hold on. He is very fast and big, but he has a lot of agility for his height.

“He is fast because of its great stride and is impressive, both in defence and attack because he scores many goals.”

Van Dijk doing it at both ends

The Dutch defender reads the game extremely well and we saw his goal-scoring exploits last season.

He picked up some important goals in our Champions League journey and is always a threat during set-pieces.

The former Southampton man has just hit his prime and has many quality years left in him. We bought him at just the right time, and we are only getting better with each season under Klopp.

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Our defence hasn’t been as tight as it was last season but we are picking up the wins. That is important as we look to win our first Premier League crown. We have an eight-point lead over Manchester City already.