Virgil van Dijk: We won't give it up against Barcelona
Virgil van Dijk insisted Liverpool have to believe they can accomplish the 'big job' they need to rescue their Champions League semi-final against Barcelona.
A 3-0 defeat at Camp Nou, inflicted by goals from Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi (two), did not reflect the full story of a first leg in which the Reds had several promising opportunities.
But they will require a significant turnaround in the return match at Anfield next Tuesday if they are to overcome Barcelona and progress to the final in Madrid.
For Van Dijk, Liverpool’s chances rest on their conviction it can be done.
“We’re disappointed by the result on the scoresheet because I don’t think it says how the game was really,” the Dutchman told Liverpoolfc.com after the final whistle.
“I thought we played well, we created big chances, should have scored at least one goal and obviously they could have scored in total four maybe.
“Obviously it’s 3-0 now and there’s a big job to do over at Anfield but we have shown throughout the season that we never give up so we have to just believe. We need everyone and we’ll see how it goes.”
Jürgen Klopp’s side came closest to registering an away goal in Spain when, at 3-0, Roberto Firmino had a shot cleared off the line and Mohamed Salah sent the rebound against the post.
Asked if Liverpool can take encouragement from their ability to create against Ernesto Valverde’s team, Van Dijk replied: “We believe and we keep believing.
“We know how tough it is with the quality that they have throughout the whole pitch but we showed at times that we can definitely create good chances against them and make it difficult against them.
“They’ve still got the extra quality [in Messi] that turns up whenever he likes but we’ll try to do everything that’s possible to go through.”