Liverpool captain Van Dijk urges Reds to quickly switch focus to Wembley showdown

Virgil van Dijk has told his Liverpool team-mates “chin up and get ready for the next challenge” after their Champions League dreams were dashed by Paris Saint-Germain at Anfield tonight.

PSG won 4-1 on a penalty shoot-out after Ousmane Dembele’s first-half goal had drawn the sides level 1-1 on aggregate.

Both teams had chances to win it during an absorbing 120 minutes before Gianluigi Donnarumma saved Darwin Nunez and Curtis Jones’ penalties to send Luis Enrique’s men through.

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Wembley next for Liverpool

Liverpool will have to bounce back swiftly if they are to claim their first piece of silverware this season as their next game comes on Sunday against Newcastle in the EFL Cup final at Wembley.

Captain Van Dijk told Amazon Prime: “It was a very intense, great game of football, I think to be part of it as well. It was totally there for Liverpool and unfortunately we’re out on penalties and that is the reality.

“I think in the first half we created dangerous moments and they have the quality as well, and then it comes down to penalties.

“It’s part of football. I said to the guys, obviously, you can be disappointed because we’re out of the competition, but chin up and get ready for the next challenge, a beautiful one on the weekend.”

A tough night for Liverpool 💔

🎥 The key moments as the Reds suffer Champions League heartbreak against PSG

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Liverpool improve but still not enough

Liverpool rode their luck last week to secure a 1-0 win at the Parc des Princes last week with goalkeeper Alisson making a string of fine saves before Harvey Elliott struck late on.

They were much better tonight, although PSG carried the greater threat as the game went on.

“I think we were pretty good today as well, and you want to go as far as possible, but we knew when we drew PSG it was going to be very difficult,” added Van Dijk.

“We saw [that] in Paris when we struggled but we won, and today we saw a very good Liverpool side but we’re out of the competition.

“When fatigue kicks in for both sides, it becomes more open but especially regular time, we showed a very good game. We can speak about the game for ages but we’re out of the competition, that is the reality.”