Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk says his side’s Champions League campaign has not gone as well as expected so far this season.
The Reds, who were beaten by Real Madrid in last season’s final, scraped into the knockout rounds. They lost all three away games in the group stage, albeit they beat Paris Saint-Germain, Napoli and Red Star Belgrade at Anfield.
They drew 0-0 at home to Bayern Munich in their last-16 first leg and now need to avoid a fourth successive away defeat in the competition if they want to join Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur in the quarter-finals.
Defensive rock Van Dijk acknowledges that Liverpool have not yet reached the levels they were hoping to perform at in Europe this season.
He told The Guardian: “The group stage games were not as good as we wanted but we got through to the knockout phase. Now we have a 0-0 and we want to do everything that is possible to get through. We know it is going to be a very hard and tough game.”
Netherlands international Van Dijk, who missed the first leg through suspension, has called for patience at the Allianz Arena.
He said: “Sometimes you have to know how to manage games because at times it is going to be very hard and we will need to be patient, ready for what is coming. There will be times when it is going to be very tough and we are going to be under pressure because they have a lot of quality and they showed that. But we will definitely have our own moments because of the quality we have as well.”
Van Dijk added: “To keep a clean sheet in the first leg is always good for both teams but we know if we score they need to score two, that is how it is.”
