Virgil Van Dijk: 'Messi Is Probably The Toughest Opponent I've Ever Played Against'

Liverpool superstar Virgil Van Dijk hailed his FIFA and UEFA rival Lionel Messi as the best player he ever faced.

In the past few years, Van Dijk and Messi have been battling each other, especially in copping individual awards. And though Van Dijk has praised Messi on many occasions and has repeatedly said he is the best soccer player on the planet, the Dutchman once again lauded the Argentine as the best he ever played against.

In a question and answer session on Twitter, Van Dijk was asked by a fan who has been his toughest opponent. According to the Liverpool defender, there has been an array of difficult strikers but no one is “probably” as tough as the six-time Ballon d’Or winner.

"There are some difficult strikers out there, but probably Leo Messi," he wrote.

Van Dijk and Messi faced each other in the semi-finals of the Champions League last term. Despite Barcelona’s 3-0 win for the La Liga side at Camp Nou, Liverpool fought back tremendously at Anfield where Messi and Van Dijk were once again engaged in an intense battle on the pitch.

Another curious response from Van Dijk was that although Messi is the toughest player, it was Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero who has been the player he has found "hardest to mark."

Coincidentally, the two soccer stars Van Dijk mentioned in his response happened to be both Argentines and friends on and off the pitch.

Last year, after Messi won The Best FIFA Men's Player 2019 award, Van Dijk famously said he cannot be compared to “Leo.” The 28-year-old finished second to the Argentina forward while Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo ended up in the third spot.

Despite not winning the award, Van Dijk cleared the air and reiterated that he was not disappointed at all to finish second to the Barcelona superstar.

"The people who vote made a decision, and you have to accept it. That's just the case, and as players you can't compare me and Messi because it's totally different. I'm very proud to be here,” Van Dijk told Goal.com

“You can't be disappointed. I unfortunately didn't win, but I'm not disappointed,” Van Dijk continued.

At UEFA's equivalent awards, Van Dijk was able to top Messe after being named Men's Player of the Year for 2018-19. The results were reversed as Messi finished second to the Dutchman. However, Messi once again beat Van Dijk after earning his 6^th Ballon d’Or trophy last year.