Virgil van Dijk has just had a memorable season at Liverpool. In addition to the newly won Champions League title, the Dutch midfielder is also the owner of the Premier League 2018-2019 Best Player award. Although he is only a defender, his contributions are not inferior to any attacking player.
For Liverpool at the moment, Van Dijk is the number one guards. Specifically, no player could cheat the ball through Van Dijk in his 64 matches for Liverpool. In Liverpool's 2-0 win over Tottenham in the early morning of June 2, Van Dijk still played impressively to ensure the safety of Alisson's goal. Van Dijk caused Harry Kane to " lose power", blocking all of Son Heung-min's dribbling efforts, and at the end of the match he won the "Best Player of the Final" award.
With his huge contributions to the club, there have been many opinions that Van Dijk deserves the most noble individual title with a player, the Ballon d'Or. However, in his statements after becoming Champions League champion, the 27-year-old star appeared quite modest and affirmed that Lionel Messi was the best:
I think Messi is the best player in the world. He should win the Ballon d'Or. So I don't think about it too much.
But if I win, I will still receive that honor. However, Messi should be the winner. He is truly the best player in the world whether he plays in the Champions League final or not.
In the Champions League semi-finals, Van Dijk had the opportunity to face Messi directly. The 27-year-old centre-back was helpless against M10 and suffered a 0-3 defeat to Liverpool in the first leg. However, when he returned home in the second leg, he successfully commanded the Argentine superstar's defense, contributing to the 4-0 victory of The Kop.
