Michael Owen has branded Liverpool star Virgil van Dijk the best defender he’s ever seen after witnessing Jurgen Klopp’s side reach their third Champions League final in five seasons.
Jurgen Klopp’s side were forced to dig deep against Villarreal to reach the Paris-staged final. That’s after two first-half goals saw the Spaniards wipe out Liverpool’s 2-0 first-leg lead. But the introduction of Luis Diaz changed everything for the Reds. He deservedly topped our Player Ratings, ensuring the Reds won 3-2 on the night and 5-2 on aggregate.
The reuslt means Liverpool will face one of Man City or Real Madrid in next month’s final. Reds talisman Mohamed Salah has made it perfectly clear which team he fancies facing.
It also keeps them on course for an unprecedented quadruple, though City are obvious obstacles in the Premier League and in Europe.
Discussing just how good this current Liverpool crop is before the game, Owen had no doubts that Van Dijk deserves huge plaudits.
His £75m signing from Southampton in January 2018 is seen as the major catalyst for the Reds’ recent success.
And Owen believes the Dutchman may well be the greatest defender he’s seen in his lifetime.
Assessing the player, Rio Ferdinand stated Van Dijk “is the best centre-back on the planet right now, easy”.
Former Liverpool striker Owen took it further by claiming: “Well I’d go further. I think he’s the best centre-half of all time.”
Asked to explain his reasoning – and why he’s better than the man he’s stood next to in Ferdinand – Owen continued.
Owen explains his thinking
“He [Rio] probably scored a few more goals, not much, but we’re talking about the greatest here.
“As I’ve said, Rio was the best centre-half I ever played with. But with Van Dijk, as a centre-forward I look at him and think: what do you do against him?
“He’s bigger than everyone, he’s faster than everyone, he’s stronger than everyone. He’s brilliant on the ball, he scores…
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