Jamie Carragher has issued a brutal response to Virgil van Dijk after the Dutchman claimed the Liverpool legend wouldn't even get on their bench.
Van Dijk offered his opinion while talking to Carragher's Sky Sports colleague Gary Neville in an episode of The Overlap. He joked Carragher - one of Liverpool's greatest ever defenders - would be "in the stands" as a reserve if he was a member of the current squad.
Carragher was given a great chance to respond to Van Dijk when Liverpool were pitted against Real Madrid in Monday's Champions League draw. The Reds have a poor recent record against the Spaniards, losing to them in the 2018 and 2022 Champions League finals.
Shortly after the last 16 draw, Carragher shared a picture of the Liverpool side that thrashed Real 5-0 on aggregate in the Champions League 14 seasons ago. The ex-defender started both games and thwarted the likes of Raul, Wesley Sneijder and Gonzalo Higuain.
"Last LFC team to beat Real Madrid, 5-0 on aggregate!" tweeted Carragher. "Hopefully you can keep two clean sheets, Virgil van Dijk, in the next clash!"
As a club legend and fan, Carragher's comments were genuine - yet they also served as a reminder of what he achieved at Liverpool. Carragher made 737 appearances for the club and won 11 senior trophies - including the Champions League and UEFA Cup.
Do you think Jamie Carragher - in his prime - would get in the current Liverpool squad? Let us know in the comments below!
Klopp's side are undoubtedly one of the greatest Liverpool teams of all time - winning seven trophies since the start of the 2018/19 campaign and ending their 30-year wait for a league title - but Carragher would've been disappointed with Van Dijk's comments.
In The Overlap, Neville asked Van Dijk if he's having Carragher in his starting XI. As they both laughed, Van Dijk stunned Neville by insisting: "Not even in the full [matchday] squad, the first 20. He [Carragher] will be in the stands!"
Van Dijk then explained his reasoning. He added: "You have to think about it. You have two centre-backs playing, hopefully I’m playing and it’s Joe Gomez now [alongside]. You have Joel Matip and Ibrahima Konate, you’re not going to put another centre-back in."
Neville joked he could "listen to this all day" but did challenge Van Dijk on his view - to which the Dutchman replied: "He [Carragher] played many games for Liverpool but in the modern game I think Matip and Konate would be ahead of him."
It's now up to Van Dijk to vindicate his comments by emulating Carragher and knocking out Real. As well as losing the 2018 and 2022 Champions League finals to the Spanish giants, they also dumped out of the tournament by Real two seasons ago.
“The first thing that we can say about this draw is it is proper Champions League," Klopp told Liverpool's website. "This is a tie that speaks for itself and one that we should all be excited about... This draw has given us something special to look forward to."
