As soon as it was confirmed that Barcelona would face Liverpool in the Champions League semi-final, fans looked at the battle between Lionel Messi and Virgil van Dijk.
It was being dubbed as the best player in the world vs the best defender in the world.
The best dribbler in the world vs a defender that hasn’t been dribbled past all season.
Could Messi find a way past Van Dijk?
Yes. Yes, he could.
Messi may not have been able to actually dribble past Van Dijk during the Champions League semi-final first leg at the Camp Nou, but he did score twice to put Barcelona within touching distance of the final.
The Dutchman was clearly fearful of Messi and could be seen backing off when the Argentine was running with the ball.
But he couldn’t do anything as Luis Suarez’s effort bounced off the bar straight to Messi, who applied the finish to put Barcelona 2-0 ahead.
And the Liverpool defender could only stand and watch as Messi smashed a 35-yard free-kick over his head and into the top corner a few minutes later.
Messi 2-0 Van Dijk.
And after the match, the Dutchman paid the ultimate tribute to Messi by admitting he’s glad he doesn’t play in La Liga.
“When you face Messi at his best, you can not do anything,” Van Dijk said.
“I’m glad I’m not in Spain so I do not have to face him every season, he scored two goals, I’m very disappointed.”
The consolation for Liverpool fans is that Van Dijk isn’t interested in a move to Real Madrid in the next few years…
But Van Dijk didn’t stop there in his praise for the five-time Ballon d’Or winner.
“He’s a fantastic player, it’s very obvious, I think the hard part is that when we attack, he’s waiting somewhere, in the corner or anywhere, so you need to be well organised in defense,” Van Dijk added.
“We knew how it could be, we knew that we could add more people to defend, but when you lose easy or difficult balls they try to find you and cause us problems.
“I think he is the best player in the world, he has that extra element he has shown in recent years.”
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