Virgil van Dijk Makes Real Madrid Admission Ahead Of Champions League Clash

The Reds are the only team to have won all four of their games in the 2024-25 competition

Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk ready to perform against RB Leipzig in the Champions League / IMAGO / Newspix

Virgil van Dijk says Liverpool are not on a revenge mission ahead of hosting defending Champions League holders Real Madrid at Anfield on Wednesday night.

Arne Slot's side are the only team to have won all four of their games in the 2024-25 competition, having seen off Milan, Bologna, RB Leipzig, and Bayer Leverkusen. They head into the Madrid clash as favourites following their impressive start to the season and will aim to secure their spot in the knockout stages.

Real Madrid are the team who Liverpool have lost most often against in European competition. The Reds have lost to the La Liga giants seven times, including heartbreaking Champions League final losses in 2018 and 2022.

Liverpool have failed to secure a win in their last eight attempts against Carlo Ancelotti's side. The last time both teams met was in the round of 16 in 2022-23 when Madrid thrashed Liverpool 5-2 at Anfield before sealing qualification with a 1-0 home win.

Since moving to Anfield, Van Dijk has suffered four defeats to Real Madrid including the 2018 and 2022 Champions League finals. Ahead of the crucial encounter at home, the Liverpool captain claims they are ready to take on the La Liga champions.

"To be absolutely honest with you, I don't need fuel [of revenge] to be absolutely ready," Van Dijk said. "But it's the Champions League, it's a massive game, a beautiful fixture for the neutral and we want to be on top and come out of it with a win.

"Listen, the fact is that I have never beaten them. That record (no wins in eight) is a very disappointing stat so it's down to recovery and getting ready for a big one and I am looking forward to it."

Liverpool host Manchester City in the league on Sunday and revealing how he is getting himself ready for two games, Van Dijk added: "I eat well and drink well. I use the sauna, use the ice bath and have a good sleep.

"And tomorrow (Monday) is a recovery session, we do different exercises, yoga and meditation to get your body in the perfect state and food and sleep obviously are big things, but there are other things I do at home, in the pool myself, the sauna, the ice bath and the cycle goes on and on. It's all part of it.

"I love every week of playing for Liverpool and playing on the highest level. So I look forward to it."

"An important start to a big week? Let's hope so. It was always going to be difficult after the break, it is never an easy game and you have to get back into it and back to what we want to do, tactically, defending, so the first half was not good but we turned it around with more energy, more dominance on the ball and the three points is all that matters.

"I think we have to find a way to win and we did in the second half, we kept pushing. In my opinion we deserved a win. It was very difficult to play against, they take risks in possession and you have to be strong to keep going and like I said, we found a way to win and now we focus on Wednesday.

"It's not all about focusing but it's a big part of it and at times we had to be ready to suffer because there was always going to be times when they broke through the press and then we'd have to do it together. So I am pleased with the three points."