GoalSir, September 22, 2024 – According to a report from the official Liverpool website, in the fifth round of the Premier League, Liverpool defeated Bournemouth 3-0 at home. After the match, Liverpool center-back Virgil van Dijk gave an interview.
Question: How much did you enjoy this afternoon?
Van Dijk: I enjoyed it very much. Obviously, we did well in Milan last time, and it’s important to keep going and not be satisfied. Clearly, we scored three beautiful goals in the first half. In my opinion, we could have scored even more goals, maybe should have. However, Bournemouth is still a very good team, and they created some difficult moments for us, making us have to fight. Overall, we are very satisfied with not conceding any goals, 3-0. Now, we are focused on preparing for the League Cup.
Question: Bournemouth had an early goal disallowed, how did Liverpool respond?
Van Dijk: I think a match is played for 95 minutes, or maybe a total of 100 minutes. Therefore, if you encounter setbacks, there is still enough time to recover from them. Obviously, it was an offside goal, so what we did was just continue playing and trying to execute what we had planned before the match. In terms of our goals, it was a well-played first half. I think we could have controlled the game better. But we are satisfied with the result, we got 3 points, 3-0, no goals conceded. We have made progress.
Question: How determined was Liverpool to bounce back strongly in the league?
Van Dijk: After losing last week, the next day we talked a lot (about being defeated by Nottingham Forest). Obviously, that also happened during the preparation process for the match against AC Milan. But after losing, life goes on, and we had another opportunity to win a match. In the Champions League, we obviously did it, and today was another opportunity, which we also seized. So now, we are focused on the next opportunity.
Question: What do you think about Núnez finally scoring his first goal of the season and getting his name on the scorer’s list?
Van Dijk: Obviously, I’m happy for him. He still has to continue working hard in training and continue to play an important role when opportunities arise. Clearly, he has a very good ‘rival’ or ‘enemy’, or whatever you want to call this relationship between him and Jota. So, they have to challenge and push each other. That’s the only way we can succeed. His response after his first start this season is obviously what we want to see. He has to continue working hard, like every other player on the team.