Virgil van Dijk: I want to create memories and write history at Liverpool

Virgil van Dijk has declared his intention to ‘write history’ at Anfield after Liverpool extended their fantastic start to the new season with a dramatic win over Paris Saint-Germain.

Jurgen Klopp’s team had already posted five wins from five in the Premier League ahead of kicking off their Champions League campaign against one of the favourites for this year’s tournament.

And they had little trouble in taking that excellent form into Europe, earning a 3-2 victory against the French champions in the final minutes of a game the hosts would have been unfortunate to draw.

Speaking after the match, Van Dijk revealed his excitement over what has unfolded at Anfield in the early stages of this season, and lifted the lid on his lofty ambitions for the remainder of the campaign.

“Everyone is excited, everyone is feeling good, everyone wanted to be part of this,” he said.

“We know the season is very long, we have four competitions to play in [but] we want to win everything: that is basically our mindset, otherwise, you'd better stop.

“You need to have ambitions, and with the size of this club, with the people around here and the history of the club, we want to try and win everything.

“It's going to be hard, it's going to be something very difficult to do, but you know we are going to just try it. That is the only way forward.

“I have enjoyed every bit of it since I have arrived here and I hope we keep it going. I want to win things, I want to create memories here and write history as well with all these boys.

“The season is just started, we have started well. We don't need to take anything for granted, we have to keep working hard and stay humble.”

Belief will be a key element of the Reds’ bid to achieve their aims this term, according to Van Dijk.

The Dutchman expects to face setbacks between now and May, but says the reaction from him and his teammates will be crucial to deciding their fate.

“If you are gonna be on the pitch and don't believe it then you'd better stay home,” he added.

“You need to have belief, you need to have belief in everyone in your team and I have all the belief that's there in this team. I'm enjoying every single bit of it.

“If you look at the team we have, if you look at the whole squad, players who are not even in the squad who have so much potential and so much quality, it says a lot about our team.

“Obviously in the end it is about hard work, making sure everyone is there for each other and I think it started for us in the pre-season. Hopefully we can keep on going.

“We've had a good start. There will be a day when we have downs as well, but then it is how we react – and I am not worried about anything.”

In comprehensively outplaying an expensively assembled PSG side on Tuesday, Van Dijk believes Liverpool sent out a message to their rivals at home and abroad.

And he is loving every second of being part of a team able to make such statements at the highest level following his January transfer from Southampton.

He added: “I think everyone already had that feeling. We were not in the final last year for no reason, I think we should already get that respect for what we did. But obviously this season is new, everyone starts over, every game.

“It started today, but then the weekend again with Southampton, the cup against Chelsea, we need to keep going keep improving, but also enjoy it – you know it's the highest stage and you want to play these games as a player.

“We want to compete for every competition like we did last year, and we wanted to start well this time. We've had a good start to the season, nothing has been won yet, we need to show it every week, every three days now.

“We have to be ready. But you know it's a great time to be a Liverpool player, you want to play these games you want to play these clubs we are going to face. You want to play at the highest level, you know, enjoy it.”