Virgil van Dijk has faced Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero and Erling Haaland but surprise ex-Chelsea striker is his bogeyman
Virgil van Dijk might have got the better of some of the world's best strikers but one player continues to haunt him.
The Liverpool star is regarded as one of the best defenders of his generation and arguably the Premier League's greatest in recent years.
The Netherlands international has played and conquered some of the biggest names in the sport, including Erling Haaland, Lionel Messi and Sergio Aguero.
However, it might come as a surprise to hear that former Chelsea and Arsenal star Olivier Giroud was who gave Van Dijk sleepless nights.
When asked by Gary Neville who was his toughest opponent in an interview last year, the 32-year-old had a quick reply.
“Funnily enough, [Olivier] Giroud,” he told him on The Overlap.
“I always felt like I got him, but somehow, he always managed to score. Whether it was for Arsenal, Chelsea or France, he always scored.
“I said to him when we won the league [in 2020], we won 5-2 we were 3-0 up or something and he scored a scrappy goal, I think it was against the crossbar and fell down, scrappy goal, I said to him: ‘You scored again?!’
“So I would say he is the guy that scores against me, and just that annoying person.
«There’s so many fantastic strikers I’ve played against, Messi, [Sergio] Aguero, [Erling] Haaland is a difficult one because he has everything, but I’m going for Giroud as he’s my bogeyman — annoying!”
And that has proved the case with Giroud scoring six goals in 12 appearances against Van Dijk.
While the Frenchman might not be in the same class as Robert Lewandowski or Karim Benzema, there is no denying Giroud's talents.
Now at AC Milan, the 37-year-old scored 144 times across nine years between Arsenal and Chelsea and has a unique blend of aerial ability, strength and a brilliant
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