Liverpool are sat top of the Champions League and it was easy to understand why many of the squad were in a celebatory mood after securing another victory, including Virgil van Dijk.

As our captain walked off the pitch alongside Kostas Tsimikas, cameras captured what he shouted towards Luis Diaz and that was: “Lucho! Smile my guy, smile!”

This seemed to be the moment the Colombian was awarded the player of the match award after his three-goal performance against Bayer Leverkusen helped secure a 4-0 victory.

It seemed very light-hearted from the Dutchman as he wanted to ensure his teammate had a picture he would be happy with to commemorate a match that he’ll never forget.

Luis Diaz and Virgil van Dijk were part of a fine Liverpool performance

You could see from the way that the whole stadium, and Ibou Konate, sung our winger’s name at full time that everyone appreciated how well he played during the game.

It wasn’t just our No.7 though, with a real team effort needed in order to topple Xabi Alonso’s side at his former home.

With Arne Slot addressing the contract situation of our captain after the match, it’s clear that this is becoming a subject of increasing importance.

Let’s hope that this can all be sorted soon and that the long-term future of our best players can be secured in the not too distant future, providing more stability for fans, players and head coach alike.

You can view the video of Van Dijk shouting to Diaz via @trentchive on X:

virg telling lucho to smile when he received his motm trophy

pic.twitter.com/ZzgUt3dePv

— ً (@trentchive) November 7, 2024