Virgil van Dijk played 43 minutes for Liverpool on Thursday in the exhibition game with Bologna (2-0 win). The thirty-year-old centre-back, who has returned from a serious cruciate ligament injury, made a sovereign impression as the leader of the defense during that time. Van Dijk held his own defensively and was strong in passing.
Liverpool will play two half-hour matches against Bologna on Thursday. Van Dijk was in the starting line-up and formed a four-man defense together with Trent Alexander-Arnold, Joel Matip and Andy Robertson. It was Van Dijk’s second exhibition game since his recovery from his knee injury. Last week, the the Dutch captain participated for twenty minutes against Hertha BSC.
The two goals Liverpool scored came in the first quarter. In the seventh minute, Diogo Jota got the ball pushed deep into Bologna’s half by a defender, after which the Portuguese dribbled into the penalty area and calmly shot the ball past the goalkeeper: 1-0. The second goal also came from a mistake by the Italians: this time Sadio Mané got the ball ready from a defender. The Senegalese dragged the ball past the goalkeeper and finished: 2-0.
From 6 p.m., Liverpool will play the second sixty-minute game against Bologna. The Reds are still practicing against Athletic Club and Osasuna, after which the Premier League starts next Saturday with a game against Norwich City.
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