Virgil van Dijk on Bayern tie: 'We must be ready for anything'
Virgil van Dijk believes Liverpool must be 'ready for anything' in order to overcome Bayern Munich in the Champions League.
Anfield will host the first leg of a last-16 tie that pits two five-time winners of the competition against each other on Tuesday.
And Van Dijk, who is out of the match due to suspension, feels a closely-fought contest is in store.
“Obviously they have a great squad, great players. It’s a fantastic club and it’s a great opponent to play against, so it’s going to be a beautiful two games, I think,” the Netherlands captain told UEFA.
“I think, overall, the whole team has quality all over the pitch. Obviously, the players up front maybe have that bit extra, which you need at the bigger clubs. They’ve been doing it for years, so [I have] a lot of respect for them. But, we obviously want to go through to the next round.
“We need to be ready for anything. We want to win those games, we want to go through and we need to be more than 100 per cent to go through because they are a fantastic team.”
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Next month’s second leg at the Allianz Arena will ultimately decide which side advances to the quarter-finals - and Van Dijk is relishing the prospect of playing at one of Europe’s most iconic stadiums for the first time.
The centre-back continued: “I’m looking forward to it. You know, it’s a stadium I haven’t played in yet, so, for me, it’s going to be a new stadium to play in. I enjoy those things and I’m looking forward to it.
“We have a fantastic stadium as well, and they need to be prepared for that as well. We’ll see. We need to enjoy it, but we want to go through.”