Virgil van Dijk has admitted to a 'terrible' personal mistake in Liverpool's 4-3 Champions League victory over Villarreal, but praised the team's resilience in overturning a two-goal deficit.
The captain's error allowed Georges Mikautadze to give Villarreal an early lead, with Sergi Cardona extending the advantage before the half-hour mark. Liverpool, however, fought back to secure the win at Anfield on Tuesday evening.
Van Dijk holds his hands up
"It was a terrible start," said the Netherlands international. "I think the saying is you fight an uphill battle and as a defender it is pretty difficult to come back from it. I tried but it was a bad day at the office personally but we do it together with 11 players."
"Fortunately it didn't happen too many times in my Liverpool career but I was not the best. But we won and it's not about me, it's all about us."
Van Dijk acknowledged the difficulty of the first half, noting that Villarreal are "a very good team on the ball" and showed that with movements and rotations. "It wasn't a great first half but we got it turned around," he added.
Improved resilience under Iraola
The victory marked the third occasion in 11 matches this season that Liverpool have overturned a losing position, following similar recoveries against Brentford and Atletico Madrid. The Reds only managed that feat twice in the whole of last season, and with draws from losing positions against Newcastle United and Nottingham Forest in August, they have already equalled that total.
Van Dijk credited the team's mental fortitude under manager Andoni Iraola. "Definitely," he said when asked about the improved resilience. "Obviously we don't want to put ourselves in a position where you have to come back from anything and that's what I did from the start."
Ngumoha impresses
Young winger Rio Ngumoha delivered his finest display in a Liverpool shirt, setting up Ronald Araujo's equaliser and Alexis Mac Allister's goal to put the Reds 3-2 ahead. Van Dijk revealed that senior players, including Cody Gakpo, have been helping the youngster settle in.
"A few senior players, I would say Cody (Gakpo) is definitely part of that," said Van Dijk. "But everyone has that role in order to help the youngsters in the group, the players who have not had so much experience."
He added: "He's pretty electric at times and he showed it again on Tuesday. He was a complete threat constantly and their defender had a tough time."
Focus on Brighton
Liverpool now face a busy schedule, with the Premier League visit of Brighton on Sunday. Van Dijk stressed the importance of the upcoming run, saying: "It's an important run for sure. We are also coming to a period now, especially November-December, when I think you can see who will be challenging for certain places."
"But our full focus is on the game ahead of us, that should always be the case. Brighton are flying high and it will be a tough one."
