LONDON — Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk insists he still looks back on their close-run Premier League title races with Manchester City with fondness but makes a distinct separation between that and what the club had done off the field.
“I really enjoyed our rivalry and it was a great rivalry on the pitch. What happened off the pitch, that is for others to find a conclusion to and then let’s see,” said Van Dijk.
The Netherlands skipper has twice been pipped to the title by a single point by their north-west rivals in in 2018-19 and 2021-22 but in the wake of being found guilty of significant financial breaches between 2009 and 2018, City’s achievements are being called into question.
“I think everyone could hear it,” added Van Dijk. “Everyone can share their feelings and I don’t think Anfield will be the only place where it will be the case because fans will have their feelings.
Although they matched their rivals for an hour at Anfield, the sending-off of Ryan Gravenberch turned the game and City showed their ruthlessness with a flurry of goals in 13 minutes to win 3-0.
The game was played out against a backdrop of chants which were all ‘cheat’ themed but Van Dijk would not be drawn on the intricacies of the case against City, who have appealed against the verdict.
“It’s still a little bit ongoing so I don’t think it’s smart for me to comment on it right now but when the verdict comes out, I will definitely have my opinion and I will probably share it as well,” he added according to PA Media.
Pushed on whether City being top of the table with a punishment still pending caused a problem for the Premier League, Van Dijk added: “You want me to say some things I don’t want to say at this moment in time. I don’t think it’s very good to do that.”
The defeat was Liverpool’s first of the season, and Andoni Iraola’s first as head coach, and while they held their own for two thirds of the game they were significantly hamstrung by the absences of Alexander Isak, Cody Gakpo and Dominik Szboszlai, which left them lacking a goal threat.
“The first half we can say we deserved a bit more than that but the fact is we lost it 3-0,” said Van Dijk.
“We play for Liverpool so we have the expectation we have to win every game. It (City’s guilty verdict) has not been spoken about to use as extra motivation in the situation as you play a big game at home against the league leaders and everyone was up for it.
“We struggled a little bit with some injuries at the moment and I think in the first half we showed a lot of fight and intensity – the bare minimum by the way.
“I think it was an even game up until the red card. The early goal after the red card changed the whole game, that’s just the fact.
“There was a lot of good things in the first half but the fact is we lost it 3-0 and that hurts and we have to quickly turn this frustration and disappointment back to full focus.
“The Champions League away at LASK (on Wednesday) people might think is an easy one – it isn’t. We have to focus quickly, recover and be back on it.”
