Virgil van Dijk has insisted there has been no movement yet on his contract situation — with his full focus on the Carabao Cup final after Liverpool was knocked out of the Champions League on penalties.
After winning 1-0 in Paris, the Reds lost by the same scoreline at Anfield with Darwin Nunez and Curtis Jones seeing their spot kicks saved. Van Dijk says Liverpool doesn’t need any more motivation for the final weeks of the campaign with two pieces of silverware including the Premier League title still up for grabs.
As it stands, Van Dijk’s contract will expire before Liverpool plays another Champions League game, and he rather worryingly admitted Tuesday night’s defeat could well have been his final game for the Reds in that competition.
“No idea,” he said when asked if he would be back next season to have another go at winning the competition with the Reds. “Still no idea. I have no idea at the moment. There is nothing on hold. I don’t even know myself. I keep saying the same thing.
“Listen, there is 10 more games left and that is my full focus. If there is news, you guys will know it but I don’t even know it myself. Everyone knows there is some conversations behind the scenes but that is about it. I don’t know what will happen next year so if anyone says they do, they are lying to you!”
As classy as ever, though, Van Dijk paid tribute to Luis Enrique’s team and praised their strength, admitting the soon-to-be French title winners were the best team he’s faced this season.
“I just want to congratulate PSG and wish them all the best,” Van Dijk said. “We have 10 more games now I think and we will give it everything and hopefully we can celebrate something very nice. I can only speak about the teams that we have faced and they were the best team in the Champions League that we faced. And we still created many chances against them.
“At the moment, they are doing very well. They created a very good team — down to the manager and the recruitment and everything — and they can make it very difficult for every team in the world.
“We made changes and maybe looked a bit disjointed at times in the end. They controlled the extra time period pretty well in my opinion so it is not only down to us. They kept the ball, switched it from side to side and let us run.
“They did it well and if you look at the regular time game, we did pretty well. Certainly we showed a different Liverpool [to the first leg] — that wasn’t too difficult to be absolutely honest with with you, and they felt the pressure we created.
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“But we are out of the Champions League and that is the reality. You always have to learn from difficult moments. That’s life for every human being and footballers as well.”
Liverpool will learn the lessons of the game quickly but it was in many ways unfortunate to be facing a team who — alongside Real Madrid — is surely now the favorite to go all the way so early on.
“There were good things today and things that we maybe could have done better,” Van Dijk said. “But overall I’m very proud of the performance that we put in today. It was a great game to watch as a neutral I think.
“It was a great game to be a part of — very intense and a lot of running for both sides, especially in regular time. But they are going through and we aren’t. That’s the reality.
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“We have 10 more games left. We have two big prizes we can still get so we have to give it everything, feel the disappointment tonight, and from tomorrow we start the recovery. If we bring this intensity with our fans in Wembley on Sunday then I’m positive.
“We don’t need any extra motivation. Ten more games. We can win the Premier League and we can win the Carabao Cup this Sunday, so if you need any extra motivation then you are in the wrong business.”
Next up for Liverpool is the Carabao Cup final against Newcastle United. And with Trent Alexander-Arnold unlikely to be involved because of an injury, someone else will have to step up in his place.
“Everyone who is from the bench and who doesn’t start has to try and make an impact,” Van Dijk said when asked specifically about Jarell Quansah, who could deputize. “I have no idea what it is (the injury to Alexander-Arnold).
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“Hopefully it is something minor but if not, if Jarell will play right-back then he has to do it in the best way possible. He showed today and he showed already in the last couple of weeks that he can do it.
“Right now it is bitter disappointment in our heads because we are out of the competition but I am really looking forward [to the Carabao Cup final]. We need our fans to be there with us and I have no doubts they will be there as well.
“If you look at the game today, we tried everything in our power to go through, especially during the regular time. We put ourselves in a very good position last week, winning there 1-0 when our performance wasn’t as good.
“Today our performance was miles better. In the beginning phase, we created a lot of opportunities but we couldn’t capitalize and they obviously scored a goal. That was the game and unfortunately penalties decided the fate for us.”
