Reaction'Very difficult' - Virgil van Dijk on Liverpool's FA Cup exit at Man City
Virgil van Dijk reflected on a ‘very difficult’ day for Liverpool after they were beaten 4-0 by Manchester City in the Emirates FA Cup quarter-finals.
An Erling Haaland hat-trick and Antoine Semenyo finish during a 20-minute spell either side of half-time at Etihad Stadium on Saturday sent the Reds out of the competition.
Post-match, Van Dijk assessed the afternoon when speaking to ESPN. Read the captain’s reaction below.
On how he sums up the day…
Very difficult - very difficult to accept, very difficult to be out there. Very tough day and I feel bad for the fans as well.
On the penalty he conceded for the opening goal…
It went so fast. The ball comes in on [Nico] O’Reilly’s right foot, obviously I plant my foot behind him and I think he bounced it to [Jeremy] Doku. As I said, it went so fast so it’s a split-second decision. Eventually I managed to block the shot but the penalty is given already.
On the responsibility the players feel…
All the responsibility, we are the ones not performing on the pitch. We know how the world works. We have to stick together, even how difficult that is. It’s just a big blow that we’re out of the FA Cup because up until the penalty I don’t think there were any issues.
On ‘getting this performance and result out of their heads’ ahead of facing Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League on Wednesday…
Very important to try to get it out of the system as soon as possible. But at the moment I can only speak for myself that this is a big blow, this is tough to take, especially the way [in the] second half. But the reality is that midweek there is a hungry and very good PSG waiting for us. You could say the only good thing is there is two games to be played, but even in between those two games we play a tough game against Fulham. So yeah, a tough one.
On having a message to Liverpool fans…
I can understand that [supporters leaving before full-time]. Obviously they have been going through ups and downs, like we obviously have as well. Obviously we would love them to be staying up until the end but if you’re 4-0 down and the way we played second half then I can understand the anger. In my time at Liverpool we have been going through tough times and at the moment it’s a tricky one as well.