ReactionVirgil van Dijk: Galatasaray was a good night, now let's be ready for Brighton
Virgil van Dijk was left satisfied by Liverpool’s performance against Galatasaray but the captain’s focus is now on Brighton & Hove Albion.
The Reds produced a powerful display to defeat Galatasaray 4-0 at Anfield on Wednesday; a result that earned a 4-1 aggregate victory in the last 16 of the Champions League.
A quarter-final tie with Paris Saint-Germain is now in the calendar for next month, but Van Dijk is looking no further than Saturday lunchtime’s trip to the south coast.
After the resounding win over the Turkish side, the skipper said: “I think occasionally we have been showing and playing good games but not consistently and on a regular basis and it’s been frustrating for all of us and for the fans as well.
“But the only thing we can do is keep going, try to improve and every time you are out there represent the badge in the best way possible.
“It was a good night. We have been having good performances this season and we haven’t been able to build on it the next time.
“It is very hard but that’s the hardest thing in life, doing it each and every three or four days. If you do that you become successful, there’s a big chance you become successful. That’s what you strive for, that’s what we had last year and that’s what we try to reach.
“But you need multiple factors to go your way and now don’t get carried away. This was a demanding game physically and mentally and it is down to us to do all the right things to be ready for an early kick-off at Brighton because Brighton away is always difficult.
“We have to be ready but everyone is needed in that sense.”
Wednesday night’s match was played out amid a textbook European-night atmosphere at Anfield and Van Dijk added: “There was a lot at stake, that was pretty obvious, so we had to show how much we wanted it together with our fans, who played a big part.
“I played last week in Istanbul and saw how big an impact their fans had on their performance and it was clear to see our fans played a big part in our performance. We could have scored more goals but their goalkeeper still had a very good game in my opinion.
“It’s a combination of performance and the fans, they play a big part in that. The fans can probably say if we bring that every week on the pitch then there is no issue and we can say if the fans bring that every three or four days then there is no issue either. It is about doing it together.
“This season, as players we take full responsibility for a lot of performances when we have not been good enough.
“But for me there is no point to speak about it right now after we qualified for the last eight because that is still a very good thing.”