Van Dijk: “Not Listening to the Outside World”

Liverpool dominated Ajax for much of their Champions League match but was unable to be decisive in front of goal until the 89th minute when the magical Joel Matip finally nodded in one of the many set-piece opportunities that had presented themselves to the Reds. The goal sealed a well-deserved victory for the Reds, where they looked compact and were able to deal with Ajax for the most part, and puts their Champions League campaign back on the right track.

Speaking to BT Sport after the game, Virgil van Dijk spoke of tuning out the noise and remaining level-headed:

“Yeah, not listening to the outside world, that’s the most important thing.”

“It’s funny sometimes you know because there is a lot of ex-football players who know exactly what we go through but they say a lot of things to try and get us down.”

“We know that last week was unacceptable, very bad and we try to make it right.”

“This is what I said before, it is a step in the right direction but we cannot get carried away because we play so many games. Now it is time to focus on the national teams or to get a break for a little bit and crack on.”

With the postponement of the Chelsea game this weekend, Liverpool FC will play next on 1 October, when they will host Brighton in Premier League competition.