Virgil Van Dijk Explains How To Deal With 'Best Player In The World' Lionel Messi

The monumental task of marking Lionel Messi is nigh on impossible, just ask the defensive line of Manchester United, who struggled to deal with his genius in the Champions League quarter-finals.

So it begs the question: how will Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool decide to tackle the five-time Ballon d'Or winner in Wednesday night's clash against Barcelona at the Nou Camp?

Well, a certain PFA Player of the Year winner has given some insight on the matter and it sounds like he has no fear of the incoming Messi.

"I think he is the best player in the world," van Dijk said via The Guardian.

"But you see how we play and how we defend. We don't defend one vs one, we defend all together and we attack all together as well so we will see. We will be ready.

"The situation is that we are in the semi-final against Barcelona and we are going to face the best player in the world but it is not only him, the whole team has a lot of quality.

"We will prepare well and we have also a very good team so we can compete there. It is not like we are going there for a holiday."

Van dijk did admit that the game against Barcelona is going to be an "incredibly tough" task, but you can sense a pinch of confidence in his quotes, something that will only encourage Liverpool fans ahead of the tie.

"I see what we have. I see the players we have, I see the management and the way we play football so it is not really a big surprise but you still have do it and we have to do it on Wednesday." he said.

"It is going to be unbelievably tough because Barcelona are one of the best teams in the world but anything can happen.

"You need to be ready for problems and we will be.

"We are going to try everything to go through to the final."

Van Dijk will be hoping that his experience of playing against Barca will be much better with Liverpool than it was with Celtic.

Earlier this month, a fan-made Liverpool Twitter account, LFCGlobe, didn't receive the memo of van Dijk's last match against the reigning La Liga champions after tweeting a clip of him playing at the Camp Nou back in 2013.

The 27-year-old centre-back was playing for Celtic at the time and put in a strong showing for his individual performance, but it doesn't help his case that Barça thrashed the Scottish Premiership side 6-1.

How do you think van Dijk will cope with the likes of Lionel Messi in Wednesday's clash in Barcelona?

Let us know in the comments below.

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Topics: Liverpool, Football News, Anfield, Nou Camp, Football, Barcelona, Lionel Messi, Virgil Van Dijk, Jurgen Klopp, Champions League, Ernesto Valverde

Jack Kenmare

Jack Kenmare is a writer at SPORTbible. He's interviewed some of the biggest names in sport, including Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Pele, Carles Puyol and Tim Henman. He dabbles in all things sport but football is his biggest passion. He was once hit in the head by a wayward strike from Nicky Butt and lived to tell the tale.

@jackkenmare_