Lightning striking the same spot twice. A sighting of a Siberian Tiger in the wild. Liverpool vs Inter Milan. Those are just some of the rarest things on planet earth.
The last time the clubs met was 2008 – one of only four matches between the two titans of European football throughout their rich histories.
It’s so rare that the Reds even find themselves in that part of the world, having only faced AC Milan at the San Siro for the first time in this season’s group stages in December.
With club history hard to come by in this regard as the Reds gear up for the Champions League Round of 16 first leg clash against I Nerazzurri, we looked to player history to find an interesting link, and as is so often the case for Liverpool on the field, Virgil van Dijk was the answer.
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For it is Liverpool ’s imperious defender who was the last current player on the books at Anfield to face the current Italian champions in UEFA competition.
It would turn out to be a crowning night in the Dutchman’s career at St Mary’s Stadium on Thursday 3rd November 2016, when his former club Southampton welcomed Inter to the south coast in the Europa League group stage tie.
The two clubs were at a certainly strange crossroads in that era.
Only six years previous Saints were celebrating victory over Carlisle in the EFL Trophy Final at Wembley before finishing seventh in League One. While not the club’s lowest point, it’s certainly enough to mark their upwards trajectory in the following years.
On the other hand, Inter’s 101st year in existence played out simultaneously and was celebrated with an emphatic Serie A, Coppa Italia, and Champions League treble under José Mourinho. The years that followed evidently weren’t quite as fruitful...
Anyway, on with the match. The Italians debuted a garish lime green and blue away strip, and in the early stages of the first half managed to keep a spritely Saints attack featuring Jay Rodriguez, Nathan Redmond and Dusan Tadic at bay.
Their quality shone through as then-club captain Mauro Icardi swivelled and fired low under Fraser Forster in the 33rd minute to open the scoring, and the feeling around the ground that the visitors would claim a win against the run of play, as they had done two weeks before in the reverse fixture, began to set in.
However, a second half comeback inspired by Van Dijk saw the hosts claim a famous victory in Southampton’s history books.
Then 25 years old, a year and three months into his career in England and beginning to put a marker down as one of the Premier League’s strongest defenders, he took the chance to display his credentials with an equaliser against Inter.
Two corners in a row, delivery from Tadic, the first met the head of van Dijk and was palmed behind by Samir Handanović.
The second was just as dangerous, though this time clattered around the feet of the crowded penalty area. Oriol Romeu got the penultimate touch, striking the bar with a hopeful flick, and with Handanovic sprawling in pounced Van Dijk to tap in from close range.
Southampton’s winner came from a Yuto Nagatomo own goal five minutes later – nothing short of deserved – though to this day their Dutch defender’s man of the match performance stands as clear reason he was destined for greatness at the highest level.
Two shots, both on target, one goal. A pass success rate of 84%, and two of two attempted dribbles completed. He was even able to boast six out of eight aerial challenges won on the night, five interceptions, 100% success rates for tackles and clearances, and was never dispossessed in the 90 minutes.
Van Dijk was exceptional on that eve for his former employers, and since joining LFC his shown those credentials as a bare minimum every time he has pulled on the Reds shirt, so much so his continental journey peaked along with the rest of squad as they were crowned Champions of Europe in Madrid in 2019.
Now, with number seven in Liverpool's sights and the opportunity to face this old adversary again, Van Dijk will have to lead his teammates into unknown territory as he aims to produce a performance of as high a calibre as he did all those years ago.
