Virgil van Dijk has played in two Champions League Finals but there is one match in Glasgow that he will never forget.
After joining Celtic in the summer of 2013 the Dutchman went through the drama of a play-off against Shakhtar Donetsk before the hoops made it through to the group phase. The draw was hardly kind to Neil Lennon’s side as they were matched up with Barcelona, AC Milan and Ajax.
Celtic lost their first two matches, away to Milan and at home to Barcelona before van Dijk came up against a familiar foe when the Dutch champions visited Celtic Park.
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If I’m thinking back now, I think the game we played against Ajax in the Champions League in my first year, the atmosphere was outstanding. We won, I think, 2-1. The atmosphere is something you never forget. It gives you that extra lift and it was very special.
Sadly, that win was to be the only points that Celtic picked up in that campaign but it gave van Dijk a feel for the Champions League and of Celtic’s stature.
Unfortunately, Maribor ended Celtic’s hopes at the play-off stage the following season with the defeat in Malmo a year later van Dijk’s second last match as a Celtic player.
After joining Southampton, the Champions League was put on the back-burner but a few months after joining Liverpool he was picking up a runners-up medal against Real Madrid before striking gold against Spurs in June.