Virgil van Dijk snubbed Cristiano Ronaldo when naming his hardest opponents
Liverpool defender alternatively protected for a former and present day Man City striker
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Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk ignored Cristiano Ronaldo in his listing of hardest opponents he has faced.
Van Dijk has set up himself as one of the great defenders in the world due to the fact that becoming a member of the Reds for £75million in 2018.
He has helped information the Merseyside membership to Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup and Carabao Cup glory, going through some of the most prolific players in that time.
The Dutchman has come up against Ronaldo on a quantity of events together with the 2018 Champions League final, but the Real Madrid legend failed to make Van Dijk’s list.
Van Dijk instead opted for Lionel Messi, Erling Haaland, Sergio Aguero and Olivier Giroud.
Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk has named the four hardest players he has faced
The Dutchman failed to consist of Cristiano Ronaldo in his list despite facing him numerous times.
Speaking on The Rest Is Football podcast, he explained his choice to choose Haaland and Aguero.
‘I would say Erling Haaland is a very difficult opponent, [he is] very strong, a current day striker,’ Van Dijk said.
‘It’s the directness. If you provide them an inch then they will punish you.
‘It’s the same with Aguero. He did not rating many goals towards us, however seeing that I played against him when I used to be at Southampton he was constantly a handful, he could finish with his left or right, you usually had to be at your best.
‘I keep in mind one aim he scored towards us in 2018-19, he came in the front of Dejan Lovren from a go and finished it so quickly.’
Van DIjk did encompass contemporary Man City striker Erling Haaland in his list as he sang his reward
The inclusion of Olivier Giroud may come as a surprise to some but Van Dijk says the Frenchman is a challenging opponent
Giroud used to be now not prolific at some stage in his time in the Premier League but Van Dijk defined what made the Frenchman a tough opponent.
He said: ‘[He was] a link-up player, collectively at the time with [Eden] Hazard, it was constantly Hazard giving him the flick an. he would keep up the ball.
‘He additionally scored precise dreams in opposition to me. I always felt like he wasn’t going to score, however he managed to score.’
