Virgil van Dijk emphasized on the need for Premier League leaders Liverpool to play like "grown men" and show everyone that they deserve to be where they are and can overturn the first-leg deficit to Atletico Madrid in the Champions League.
The Premier League leaders are going through a rough patch and have suffered three defeats in their last five matches across all competitions.
"The pressure is always there. The thing is when you don't get good results - we don't get too many - we have had three in the last five, but the outside world can talk like we are in a relegation battle," Goal.com quoted Van Dijk as saying.
"It is what it is. We have to deal with that. We have to be grown men about it, take it on the chin and show the world why we deserve to be where we are and why we deserve to still be in the Champions League," he added.
Liverpool were beaten by 1-0 in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie against Atletico Madrid. Van Dijk's side will take on Atletico Madrid in the second leg on Thursday in a hope to overcome the deficit and advance in the Champions League.
Van Dijk also admitted that Atletico Madrid have 'fantastic' players.
"They are one of the best in how they play. They are aggressive, together and they have fantastic players who can hurt you on the break too, so we have to have a fantastic night, all of us. Hopefully we can go through. We have some time to prepare and we have to be ready for a very difficult challenge," he said.
