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Liverpool produced one of their best performances of the season as they brushed aside Bayer Leverkusen 4-0 to move to the top of the UEFA Champions League standings.
Luis Diaz took centre stage with a second-half hattrick, while Cody Gakpo scored a header to set the Reds on their way to a fantastic win at Anfield.
The Colombian enjoyed arguably his finest night as a Liverpool player, but Arne Slot singled out Virgil van Dijk for special praise after another special night in the Champions League.
Photo by Ryan Crockett/DeFodi Images via Getty Images
The Liverpool captain was at the top of his game as he marshaled the backline against a bunch of talented attackers.
Van Dijk has often been slated for keeping it overly simple at the back and not playing enough line-breaking passes, especially in the Netherlands.
And Slot was at hand to strike back at the Dutchman’s critics as he sent out a clear message after the full-time whistle.
“What I like a lot and I think Clarence [Seedorf] knows this, although he’s been in Italy for a long time so I don’t know if he follows the Dutch press a lot,” said Slot on Amazon Prime Video.
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“But Virgil sometimes, especially after the Euros, got a bit criticised about him not wanting to step into the midfield, he wasn’t always pushing forwards.
“Now, I would advise all those people to look at the game today because he was constantly on the front foot if he needed to help the midfield.
So, he had a very good game.”
Van Dijk was at his brilliant best against the reigning Bundesliga champions and did really well alongside Konate to shut out Victor Boniface, who barely had a sniff barring a late chance in the second half.
His underlying numbers from the game are as follows:
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