Liverpool’s latest hero makes instant impression

In a fixture stepped in history, at a ground where legends watch not just from the stands but from the walls and the heavens, Liverpool’s latest hero stepped forward and put his mark on the occasion.

It was inevitable that all eyes would be on €80m man Virgil van Dijk from the moment it became clear, three hours before kick-off, that he was to be handed his debut in the kind of fixture that defines what it means to play for Liverpool FC; and what an impact he made.

It wasn’t just the weight of that record fee hanging around his neck as he touched that famous ‘This is Anfield’ sign, it was the weight of more than 50 years of history, of 18 league titles, seven FA Cups and five European Cups. The kind of weight which either buries you or defines you.