Virgil van Dijk says Liverpool are not on a revenge mission before hosting reigning Champions League winners Real Madrid at Anfield on Wednesday evening.

Arne Slot’s side are the only team to have won all four games in the 2024/25 competition, having beaten Milan, Bologna, RB Leipzig and Bayer Leverkusen. After their impressive start to the season, they go into the duel against Madrid as favorites and want to secure their place in the knockout rounds.

Real Madrid is the team Liverpool have lost to most often in European competition. The Reds have lost seven times to the La Liga giants, including heartbreaking Champions League final defeats in 2018 and 2022.

Liverpool have failed to win in their last eight attempts against Carlo Ancelotti’s side. The last time the two teams met was in the round of 16 of the 2022/23 season, when Madrid beat Liverpool 5-2 at Anfield and then secured qualification with a 1-0 home win.

Since moving to Anfield, Van Dijk has suffered four defeats against Real Madrid, including in the 2018 and 2022 Champions League finals. Ahead of the crucial home game, the Liverpool captain claims they are ready to face the La Liga champions to compete.

“To be completely honest, I don’t need fuel (for revenge) to be absolutely ready.” said Van Dijk. “But it’s the Champions League, it’s a massive game, a beautiful game for the neutrals and we want to be at the top and come out of it with a win.”

“Listen, the fact is I’ve never hit her. This record (no wins in eight years) is a very disappointing statistic, so it’s a matter of resting and preparing for a big game and I’m looking forward to it.”

Liverpool host Manchester City in the league on Sunday and reveal how they are preparing for two games, Van Dijk added: “I eat well and drink well. I go to the sauna, use the ice bath and sleep well.”

“And tomorrow (Monday) is a recovery session, we do various exercises, yoga and meditation to get your body in the perfect state and of course eating and sleeping are big things but there are other things that I do at home myself in the pool.”, the sauna, the ice bath and the cycle goes on and on. It’s all part of it.

“I love playing for Liverpool every week and playing at the highest level. That’s why I’m looking forward to it.”

“An important start to a big week? Let’s hope so.” After the break it was always getting difficult, it’s never an easy game and you have to get back into it and get back to what we want to do, tactically, defensively, so the first half wasn’t good but we did it with more energy, More control of the ball and the three points are all that matter.

“I think we have to find a way to win and we did that in the second half, we kept pushing. In my opinion we deserved a win. It was very difficult to play against them, they take risks when they have the ball and you have to be strong. “We want to keep going and as I said, we found a way to win and now we’re focused on Wednesday.

“It’s not just about concentration but it’s a big part of it and sometimes we had to be prepared to suffer because there were always times when they broke through the press and then we had to do it together. So I am happy about the three points.”