Liverpool star Virgil van Dijk is prepared for a tough UEFA Champions League clash against Bayern Munich as the Reds look to reach the quarter-finals.
Both Liverpool and Bayern Munich played out a goalless draw in the first leg of their last-16 tie at Anfield last month.
Van Dijk missed Bayern’s visit to Merseyside through suspension but the Dutch centre-back will return for Wednesday’s trip to Bavaria.
“It is going to be an exciting tie,” said Van Dijk in his pre-match conference interview.
“They played very well here, kept it tight especially at the back and obviously showed us a lot of respect.”
“They changed a bit the way they played I think, so we need to be up for a big fight because they are probably going to come all in, especially in the beginning.”
“It is going to be tough and we need to do better than we did in the last away games in the Champions League.”
Liverpool lost all three away matches in the group stage this term and Van Dijk admits the Reds must improve against Bayern Munich.
“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,” 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. Everyone can see how tough it is already in the Champions League. The situation is we have a 0-0 to start with and hopefully we can get the job done.”
