Virgil Van Dijk has revealed what he told Adrian before the penalty shootout which saw Liverpool win the UEFA Super Cup against Chelsea on Wednesday.
The Spaniard became an instant Reds’ hero after he saved the decisive penalty from Tammy Abraham and redeem himself after giving away a penalty in the first-half of extra-time.
After the match, Van Dijk admitted that Liverpool gave Chelsea too much room to attack in Istanbul, and revealed to the Mirror that he shared some words of wisdom with Adrian before the penalty shootout.
“I told Adrian before penalties he could be the hero tonight and he did it so I’m happy for him and for the club,” he said.
The Super Cup was Liverpool’s second piece of silverware in the space of three months, with the Reds set to return to Premier League action against Southampton on Saturday.
OPINION
The Dutch international is usually at the heart of everything that Liverpool do, and the Super Cup was no different on Wednesday. Van Dijk was his usual colossal self in the middle of the defence, and was a constant threat in the opposition box from set-pieces, especially given the fact that he was being marked by N’Golo Kante. It isn’t just on the pitch where Van Dijk is influential to this Liverpool side, his personality is obviously unmatched by anyone in the squad, and his words of wisdom towards Adrian could have been the defining moment for the Spaniard. Adrian could not have expected his first week or so to have gone this well, with the former West Ham keeper surely just have been predicting a place on the bench all season. Football is a funny game though, and he was thrown into the deep end after Alisson Becker was forced off injured – something he took full advantage of, with the help of Van Dijk.
