"Van Dijk with a fan": Reaction to Van Dijk and Maldini pic

• COMMENTS

Fans online have been reacting to a photograph taken of Virgil van Dijk and Paolo Maldini last night.

Both were in the stands to witness a historical tie between Liverpool and AC Milan in the UEFA Champions League.

The Reds won the game 3-2 in what was a fantastic 90 minutes of action.

While Jurgen Klopp’s men destroyed Milan for 40 minutes, five minutes of madness at the end of the first half saw the Italians go into the break 2-1 up.

However, Liverpool got back on top in the 2nd half. Mo Salah made up for a missed penalty to equalise, while Jordan Henderson won the game with a fantastic Steven Gerrard-esque strike.

Van Dijk was an unused substitute as he continues his recovery from a torn ACL. Klopp took the wise decision to give him some valuable rest in order to prevent a re-injury.

Joe Gomez partnered Joel Matip in his absence. The pair were excellent aside from those last few first-half minutes.

Maldini, meanwhile, was at Anfield to watch the side he played over 600 times for as part of his role as a technical director at the club.

The pair met before the game, which led to a fantastic photograph of the pair being taken.

Maldini and van Dijk two of the best defenders ever

Many people regard Maldini as the greatest defender to ever play the game.

The one-club man won five European Cups, seven Serie A’s and a Coppa Italia, alongside numerous other trophies and individual honours.

He made his debut in 1984 and did not retire until 2009, which is truly astonishing.

Maldini played in both the 2005 and 2007 Champions League finals, so is well familiar with Liverpool.

The majority of fans would have Maldini in their all-time football XI, be it at left-back, where he spent the majority of his career, or at centre-back.

Van Dijk, meanwhile, is far and away the best defender on the planet right now.

In terms of peak ability, there is an argument that he is one of the best ever. It is possible that Van Dijk at his best is better than anyone else at their best in the history of the game.

Both are legends of the game, so it is fascinating to see them meeting each other.

There is something intriguing about two legends from two different eras being photographed together, especially when one involved is a Liverpool player.

It’s just dead cool, isn’t it?

Liverpool Twitter was loving it

Unsurprisingly, Van Dijk uploaded the photo to both Instagram and Twitter.

Liverpool fans have been replying to them with their thoughts on the duo.

Here are some of our favourite reactions.