Virgil Van Dijk has claimed that there was nothing he could do to stop Lautaro Martinez scoring a wonder-strike against Liverpool last night.
However, Jurgen Klopp had a different view.
The Dutchman was speaking post-match with beIN SPORTS when he made the suggestion.
“They scored an absolute good goal I must say,” said Van Dijk. “Great finish. I don’t think there’s much to do in my opinion.”
Fair enough. Van Dijk was the closest player to Martinez when he unleashed the shot. Having faced down the 24-year-old a couple of times over the two legs, the 30-year-old clearly felt he had the situation covered.
But Klopp disagreed.
In his own interview with beIN SPORT, the boss said that although it was a great strike, Liverpool could have defended it better.
“I saw it back but we should have defended it better,” said Klopp. “The shot was really good but we could’ve blocked it.”
It just goes to show the high standards that the manager holds his players to. That can only be a good thing as Liverpool aim to win the biggest prizes this season.
Martinez fails audition despite wonder-strike
The truth of this matter probably lies somewhere in the middle. After much hype around the Argentine pre-match, he failed to truly live up to his billing.
At no point during the tie had he threatened to do what he did by flashing the ball past Alisson Becker into the top corner.
Therefore, Van Dijk had every reason to sit off him. It was also a difficult angle to take the shot on and Virgil would have probably backed his goalkeeper from that kind of range.
Martinez could have been closed down slightly quicker. But with Matip out of position after an errant ball down the line, Liverpool’s back line was a little disorientated.
Either way it was a superb hit from Martinez. Although it was a subdued all-round display from him, it showed the touch of class which has led him to being linked with Liverpool recently (Calcio Mercato).
Liverpool were fortunate that Alexis Sanchez decided to lunge into a challenge with Fabinho almost immediately after the goal.
Inter had their tails up and looked ready to throw everything at Liverpool in the last half an hour.
The red card changed that and as it was, Martinez’s wonderful goal turned out to be meaningless.
We know that Liverpool don’t judge prospective signings from one game alone. But if he really is being considered by Liverpool’s recruitment team, his lack of proper impact over the two-legs may mean that he is bumped down The Reds’ wish list.
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