“Something I will never forget” – Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk reveals favorite footballing moment of his career

Liverpool centre-back Virgil van Dijk has revealed that winning the 2019 Champions League final was the best moment of his career.

The defender moved to Anfield in January of 2018 for a then-club-record fee (£75 million) from Southampton and is considered one of the best centre-backs in world football. In his first season at the club, Van Dijk reached the Champions League final following a stunning victory over Barcelona.

The Reds ultimately lost in the final to Real Madrid but avenged the defeat with a 2-0 victory a year later over Tottenham in Madrid to claim their sixth European Cup. Despite winning Liverpool's first league championship in three decades the following season, Van Dijk still picked the win in Europe as his favorite moment.

The Dutch centre-back told Gary Neville on The Overlap:

"Winning the UCL, that feeling, that emotion that came out of me when the final whistle went is something I will never ever forget."

Van Dijk has made 197 appearances for the Merseyside club and has won every team honor available to him since. He was also named PFA 'Players' Player of the Year' for the 2018-19 season and was runner-up for the Ballon d'Or behind Lionel Messi in 2019.

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Jurgen Klopp appears to call out Virgil van Dijk following Liverpool's latest defeat

While Van Dijk has undoubtedly been an incredible player for Liverpool during his time at the heart of Klopp's defense, his performances have declined this term. The defender missed several huge chances to equalize for his team against bottom club Nottingham Forest on Saturday (22 October) as they lost 1-0.

The Liverpool boss struggled to hide his frustration after the game, as he told BT Sport (per The Mirror):

"The performance I can explain, the result not, to be honest. I never saw that game where one team has, not sure, four or five no-brainers from a set-piece where we have to finish it off, we were perfectly prepared for that."

"Bobby [Firmino] first-half, Virgil two times, three times, you have to put the game to bed because the goal from us is a big mistake. Apart from that, all the chances we gave them because we played too often wrong passes in the centre. It happened anyway."

Klopp added:

"They closed the centre so much, so the wings was possible, it will not be a free-flowing performance, we knew that with the late changes and a lot of changes. It's a game you have to win by doing the right stuff again and again and we didn't. That’s why we stood here and haven’t won the game."