Virgil van Dijk urged Darwin Nunez and Curtis Jones to bounce back from their penalty heartbreak at Wembley following Liverpool’s defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League.
The Reds’ hopes of winning a seventh European crown – and a potential treble this season – are over after they crashed out at home to the French champion. Ousmane Dembele’s first-half goal was enough to send the game into extra time at Anfield after Harvey Elliott had secured a 1-0 win in Paris last week.
Neither team could find a winner, leading to the penalty shootout, from which Nunez and Jones both saw their spot-kicks saved by Gianluigi Donnarumma. PSG made no mistakes meanwhile, winning the shootout 4-1 to set up a quarter-final tie against one of Aston Villa or Club Brugge.
Liverpool will be left to rue a number of missed opportunities during the 90 minutes at Anfield in which it could have secured its place in the last eight. Mohamed Salah – who scored the Reds’ only penalty in the shootout – in particular had two great chances before Dembele had even leveled the tie.
The Reds’ hopes of a treble this season are now over, although they can secure a first piece of silverware under Arne Slot on Sunday when they face Newcastle in the Carabao Cup final, with their captain urging his teammates – Nunez and Jones especially – to put their penalty heartbreak behind them.
(Image: Getty Images)
“It was a very intense great game of football, I think to be part of it as well,” Van Dijk told Amazon Prime Video. “It was totally there for Liverpool and what we showed in Paris and unfortunately we’re out on penalties and that is the reality.
“I think in the first half we created dangerous moments and they have the quality as well, and then it comes down to penalties.
“It’s part of football, I said to the guys, obviously, you can be disappointed because we’re out of the competition, but chin up and get ready for the next challenge, a beautiful one on the weekend.”
Learn more
Van Dijk added: “I think we were pretty good today as well, and you want to go as far as possible, but we knew when we drew PSG it was going to be very difficult. We saw in Paris when we struggled but we won, and today we saw a very good Liverpool side but we’re out of the competition.
“Today from the first second and then extra time, when fatigue kicks in for both sides, it becomes more open but especially regular time, we showed a very good game. We can speak about the game for ages but we’re out of the competition, that is the reality.”
