Simeone labels one Liverpool player 'wonderful' after Anfield heartache

Speaking in his post-match press conference, the Argentine coach said: “We managed to equalise, and after that equaliser, in the last few minutes, the team began to be pushed further and further back, and your legs start to suffer.

“There was a corner, and after the corner, they scored a massive header. It was a great, great goal from Virgil van Dijk. We got a great opponent. Congratulations to them.”

That late moment ensured we took all three points, despite Atletico’s Marcos Llorente cancelling out earlier goals from Mohamed Salah and Andrew Robertson – although one effort should have been ruled out.

Van Dijk was imperious throughout the contest, winning six of his seven aerial duels, completing 97% of his passes, and touching the ball 105 times (via SofaScore).

He was not dribbled past once, reminding us why he remains the foundation of Arne Slot’s defence.

Atletico coach highlights van Dijk’s quality before the game

Interestingly, Simeone had already praised our No.4 ahead of kick-off, saying Liverpool “have a wonderful centre-back who can knock the ball around” when discussing our style of play (via TBR Football).

That prediction proved spot on as the Netherlands international also completed three of his four attempted long passes to stretch the visitors.

This performance follows recent comments by Jamie Carragher, who placed van Dijk among Liverpool’s all-time greats, highlighting his growing status in our history.