Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk has issued a warning to Lionel Messi after Champions League semi-final tie.
Barcelona defeated Liverpool 3-0 at the Nou Camp as goals from Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez put the La Liga champions ahead of the Reds.
However, Van Dijk appears to have hope of a stunning comeback ahead of next week’s return leg at Anfield and says Messi ‘won the battle but not the war’.
Speaking to Spanish outlet Sport, the Netherlands defender said: "When you come up against Messi and he produces his best form you can’t do anything. I’m grateful that I’m not in Spain and I don’t have to face him every season. He scored two goals and I leave very disappointed. He won the battle but not the war."
“3-0 sounds very bad. It sounds like we had a proper shocker, but we created big chances against them and should have scored at least one.
“Then it would be a totally different feeling to what we have now, but we have to take it how it is. I know it’s going to be very tough to come to Anfield. We all have to believe, I will definitely believe, so we’ll see.”