Virgil van Dijk reacts to message from Man City ace Nathan Ake
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk reacted to Man City defender Nathan Ake after he posted a message to fans on social media.
The 29-year-old centre-back played 61 minutes in the Champions League first knockout round against Real Madrid (11 February), and struggled against Kylian Mbappe.
Erling Haaland opened the scoring for the Sky Blues in the 19th minute, connecting to a cleverly chested down pass from Josko Gvardiol to fire home.
In the 60th minute, Mbappe equalised for the Spanish giants, as his scuffed effort left Ederson flat-footed as he watched the ball bobble into the back of the net.
Halaand looked to have given the Citizens the win, scoring from the penalty spot in the 80th minute after Phil Foden was brought down by Dani Ceballos.
Man City fans were livid at Ederson, as the Brazilian goalkeeper parried an effort from Vinicius Junior in the 86th minute straight into the path of former City man, Brahim Diaz, and the Moroccan dispatched the rebound with ease.
Rico Lewis was then caught out by Vinicius in the 92nd minute, and could only watch as the Brazilian winger darted forward and played in Jude Bellingham to give Real Madrid the win.
Wayne Rooney highlighted Kyle Walker’s absence after a move to AC Milan in January, as a major factor to City losing the match against the Spanish champions.
Man City will now travel to the Santiago Bernabeu in need of a win, after displaying a pre-match TIFO mocking the Spanish side for their reaction to Rodri winning the Ballon d’Or.
Nathan Ake a part of Pep Guardiola’s struggling Man City
Following the match, Ake posted a photo of the Sky Blues pre-match, on his Instagram, captioned: “Halftime, all to fight for next week”.
The post was liked by Liverpool captain and Ake’s international teammate, Van Dijk.
Ake has been one of a number of City players who have struggled this season, as the team deals with the hangover of four Premier League titles in a row.
The club responded by breaking the mould and making a number of January transfers, Man City signed Omar Marmoush from Frankfurt, and brought in Abdukodir Khusanov, Vitor Reis and Nico Gonzalez in an attempt to revitalise their ailing squad.
Liverpool avoid facing European giant after Man City falter against Real Madrid
Liverpool were able to finish in the top eight of the Champions League, league stage, and were able to skip the round of 32 entirely.
The Reds will instead face one of PSG, Brest, Monaco or Benfica, depending on the winners of each tie.
Instead of facing a major European foe, the Reds were involved in a chaotic 2-2 draw with Everton in the final Merseyside derby at Goodison Park.
Everton and Liverpool are both expected to face charges after Abdoulaye Doucoure, Curtis Jones and Arne Slot were all shown red cards by Michael Oliver after the final whistle.