Liverpool Captain, Virgil van Dijk has  reflected on the disappointment of clubl’s exit from the Europa League at the quarter-final stage despite a second-leg victory over Atalanta.

Mohamed Salah’s early penalty gave the Reds a 1-0 win in Bergamo on Thursday night, but a 3-0 defeat in last week’s first leg at Anfield proved costly for Jürgen Klopp’s side, with the Serie A outfit holding firm to progress to the last four on aggregate.

Speaking to TNT Sports afterwards, Van Dijk reacted to the end of the team’s European campaign and admitted they left themselves too much to do.

“Firstly, credit to Atalanta,” said the captain. “The damage was done last week [when] we were very poor and they had the perfect game. They deserve to go through. We made it far too difficult for ourselves with the result last week.

“Today was a good game, great fight. Obviously we won but it doesn’t feel like it really. Obviously it’s an improvement, but the reality is that we are out and we have to quickly turn this around, recover and travel to London on Saturday.

“We need everyone for that last push, and that’s the feeling that I’m getting now.”

Liverpool had hope of producing a comeback against Atalanta when Salah converted from the penalty spot after only seven minutes following a handball.

But despite dominating possession, the Reds were unable to add to their advantage and reduce the overall deficit thereafter.
“We tried,” Van Dijk said. “We had some opportunities, but the 2-0 didn’t come. Obviously there was still time, and maybe at times we wanted it too quickly. Everyone was keen to get the second and eventually the third.

“Overall, obviously it’s a much better game than we played last week, but it isn’t enough.”

He continued: “I think in the first half we were on them and we created chances. It’s about making the right decisions, and unfortunately we didn’t score the second. I think the second [goal] could have changed a lot.

“We are disappointed to go out of the competition, because it is something that we really wanted to win. But the damage was done last week and that’s something we have to be very disappointed in.”

Liverpool must now prepare themselves for a return to Premier League action, with a trip to Fulham on Sunday to come before visits to Everton and West Ham United next week.

And Van Dijk has called on the Reds to put their disappointment behind them as Klopp’s men look to deliver a strong end to the domestic campaign.

“We have to get back up,” the Dutchman said. “We have been through difficult moments all together, and we have done it before as well.

“Showing maturity, showing togetherness is the key to this, and professionalism, in order to be ready for Sunday.

“Today was a tough game and so will Sunday be. Everyone knows that and we all have a responsibility to make sure we are ready for it, physically and mentally. That’s the aim now. Everyone feels disappointed, I feel disappointed but we don’t have a lot of time to feel disappointed.

“Hopefully our fans will be there again – I have no doubt about that actually – but we will need them more than ever for the last six games of the season, where anything is still possible.”

The Reds left John Lennon Airport this afternoon for the second leg of the quarter-final tie, where they will try to overcome a three-goal deficit from the first game.

Jürgen Klopp has selected 24 players for the match in Italy.
Liverpool’s travel squad includes Alisson, Gomez, Endo, Van Dijk, Konate, Diaz, Szoboszlai, Nunez, Mac Allister, Salah, Adrian, Jones, Gakpo, Elliott, Jota, Tsimikas, Robertson, Gravenberch, Clark, McConnell, Kelleher, Alexander-Arnold, Danns, and Quansah.

Exactly four months after being bumped and relegated to the third-place match of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) by the Super Eagles, South Africa’s Bafana Bafana are nervous as they face the three-time African champions again in a crucial 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying match in Uyo.

Only three days ago, the Super Falcons pushed the reigning African champions, Banyana Banyana, off the bus to this year’s Women’s Olympic Football Tournament, instead grabbing the ticket to secure their first appearance at the glamour tournament in 16 years.

The assured manner of Nigeria’s victories in the two fixtures has left the South African football hierarchy perplexed, and there is insufficient time to recover or rethink strategies before the Bafana Bafana face the Super Eagles on Day 3 of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying series at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo on Friday, June 7.

With two points from their previous two games, but aware of their advantage over Bafana Bafana, the African vice-champions are confident of getting three points on the day, which could propel them to the top of the pool.

On February 7th, at the Stade de la Paix in Bouake, the Super Eagles defeated Bafana Bafana in the 34th Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) third-place match.

Despite achieving parity late in the game, the Bafana were outmatched in the penalty shootout, with Ni-geria’s South African-based goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali saving two of the Bafana’s kicks.

South Africans’ boasts of defeating the Super Falcons in the Women’s Olympic Football Tournament in revenge were dashed when the Banyana Banyana failed to score a goal in 180 minutes of action, with the two teams separated by Rasheedat Ajibade’s penalty kick goal in Abuja on Friday, April 5.

Despite being one point ahead of the Super Eagles in their FIFA World Cup qualifying group, the Bafana Bafana will fall behind once they face the Super Eagles’ superior strength, skill, and savvy on another Friday in June.

It should be noted that Nigeria defeated South Africa 2-1 in the quarterfinals of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (AF-CON) in Cairo.

The Super Eagles players are already gearing up to deliver big punches to Bafana Bafana in Uyo in a few weeks.

Only on Thursday night, top striker Victor Boniface returned from the injury that kept him out of the AFCON, scoring off the bench in Bayer Leverkusen’s Europa League quarterfinal against West Ham United of England.

Victor Osimhen, African Player of the Year, has also been scoring for SC Napoli in the Italian Serie A.

Goalkeeper Nwabali remains in excellent shape, and midfielders Alex Iwobi and Ademola Lookman shone in a friendly victory over Ghana.

–Independent