‘He has almost cheated! – Rio Ferdinand hails Virgil van Dijk after his sublime defensive display against Inter

Rio Ferdinand has hailed Virgil van Dijk’s outstanding performance against Inter Milan, suggesting the Liverpool star was almost ‘cheating’ given how he dominated the opposition at the San Siro.

Liverpool have taken command of their last 16 tie with the Italian champions with goals from Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah sealing a 2-0 first leg win on Wednesday night.

Jurgen Klopp’s side were given a stern test however with van Dijk and defensive partner Ibrahima Konate turning in excellent performances to keep the hosts at bay.

During the first-half of the contest, Inter forward Lautaro Martinez found himself one-on-one with van Dijk, racing through towards goal.

The Dutchman kept his cool, however, slowing the forward down until reinforcements in the form of Fabinho arrived to help halt the attack.

Assessing that incident, former Manchester United defender Ferdinand said: ‘This is about respect, earning respect over the years.

‘You see van Dijk here, he is saying one vs one, the only place you [Martinez] are going to go, I’m going to show you down there [away from goal]. And if you choose to go down there, I’ll beat you for pace, I’ll bully you for strength.’

Van Dijk also snuffed out opportunities that fell to Edin Dzeko, with Ferdinand praising the defender for knowing the opposition and what their weaknesses are.

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‘This one here, he has almost cheated there because he knows he can get back to Dzeko, he’s not the quickest. It is about knowing the players you are playing against.’

Ferd