Virgil Van Dijk has hailed the quality shown by Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino for Liverpool last night.
The two forwards scored five goals between them as Liverpool battered Rangers 7-1. And speaking to LFCTV after the game, Van Dijk admitted he was blown away by both of them.
“These guys [Salah and Firmino] have so much quality. They have been showing it for four or five years. The last eight games or nine games in, things have not been going as great as everyone wants for almost everyone. So, confidence can drop down a little but today we all showed the quality we have,” said the Dutch defender.
“For him [Salah] to come on at the right time when they have to push a little more and there’s a bit more space, it’s beneficial for all of us.”
Legends do legendary things at Ibrox
It’s night like these in the Champions League where legends can really cement their status.
How many times have we seen Firmino and Salah pull teams apart in this iconic competition? In the past, they’ve often been joined by their old mate Sadio Mane. But with Mane now departed, Darwin Nunez was on hand to join in.
Obviously, the Uruguayan has some way to go to match Mane’s 26 goals for the Reds in the competition. Nevertheless, it was nice for him to open his European account.
For Firmino and Salah, their legendary statuses are already long-since confirmed. Anything they do now is simply adding to those legacies.
Firmino in particular may have felt that he had few more nights like these in his locker. The Brazilian has been reborn this season, though. As per OptaJoe, his double at Ibrox made him Liverpool’s joint highest brace scorer in Champions League history.
No prizes for guessing who he shares that honour with. Of course it’s Salah.
Bobby’s sensational assist for Nunez to notch Champions League goal number one also made him a little bit of history. Again, as per OptaJoe, he’s now joint top of Liverpool’s all-time assisters in the competition.
Mo doesn’t join him on this one, unfortunately. Instead, James Milner and Steven Gerrard sit alongside Firmino on 12. Who’d bet against Bobby breaking that before the season’s through. What a player.
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