Can Virgil Van Dijk drive Liverpool to a double?
Can Liverpool have it all this season, well, as much as is available right now? With Virgil Van Dijk dominating as he did in Munich anything seems possible.
It might have been an ageing Bayern Munich side which looked past it, but it was a classic European win for Liverpool on Wednesday night who are now among four Premier League clubs in the draw for the Champions League on Friday.
But one thing obsesses Liverpool and even the players know it.
“I will be honest with you, the most prestigious competition for me is the Champions League,” Mo Salah said before the game in Germany.
“But the dream for the entire city and the club is the league. So I am happy to sacrifice my dream for their dream but if we win both that would great and this is what we are trying to do.”
Can they do both? Gary Neville suggested not which led Jurgen Klopp to dismiss his comments that getting knocked out would be the best thing for Liverpool. But does one competition matter much more than the other? On The Football Spin, Paddy McKenna and Dion Fanning discussed Liverpool’s impressive performance against Bayern and wondered if it could help them, not hinder them in the Premier League.
The Premier League is the competition they need to win and football writer Tony Evans explained why Virgil Van Dijk has been Klopp’s most important signing.
They also wondered if a Champions League campaign could help Liverpool. They don’t have the in depth squad of Manchester City, but they don’t want to be sitting around all week waiting for the weekend either, so maybe the distraction of European nights will help.
There was also time to discuss Big Sam’s views on foreign coaches and why Declan Rice’s young player of the year award brought back bittersweet memories of young love for Paddy McKenna. Well, actually they were just bitter.
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