Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk believes it will take a collective effort to stop Lionel Messi when his side take on Barcelona in the semi-finals of the Champions League.
The Reds set-up the mouth-watering showdown with the Spanish giants after collecting a 6-1 aggregate win over Porto in the quarter-finals, while Messi inspired his side to a 4-0 aggregate victory over Manchester United in their last eight tie.
But in order to reach their second successive European Cup final, Jurgen Klopp's side will need to overcome a Barca side which boasts an array of attacking talent, which includes Messi, whose two goals against Solskjaer's side on Tuesday night took his tally to 45 in just 42 appearances so far this season.
But Van Dijk, who himself is earning plenty of praise for his impressive performances so far this campaign, is relishing the prospect of facing the Argentine.
“How are we going to do it? I don’t know, we’ll see,” Van Dijk said in the aftermath to his sides 4-1 win at the Estadio do Dragao on Wednesday night.
“It’s going to be a great match-up for all of us. It’s about doing it all together, it’s never one-v-one, it’s never just me against a particular striker.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp relishing semi-final showdown with Barcelona
“It’s always us against everyone and I think that’s the only way we can defend well.
“It’s going to be very hard [to stop Messi]. I think he’s the best player in the world but we’ll see. We're very happy to be in the semi-final again.”
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