Virgil van Dijk Joins Illustrious Liverpool Group After Champions League Rout

Liverpool center back Virgil van Dijk donned the captain’s armband for the 200th time when the Reds breezed past LASK on Wednesday.

The Dutchman, who was appointed club captain in July 2023, joined the exclusive company of only seven other Reds to reach the impressive milestone. Van Dijk now boasts the eighth-most games as Liverpool captain in club history.

Of course, Steven Gerrard leads the way; it’s hard to see another player touching his 470 games as captain any time soon, especially now that the likes of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Mohamed Salah and Ibrahima Konaté have all left Merseyside.

Ron Yeats is the only other player to wear the armband for over 400 games. Emlyn Hughes comes in at third with 335 games, followed by Donald McKinlay, Jordan Henderson, Alex Raisbeck and Sami Hyypia.

Van Dijk will inevitably pass Hyypia in the coming weeks; the center back only needs five more appearances to claim sole possession of seventh place.

Whether he gets the chance to continue his ascent remains uncertain. Van Dijk’s contract with Liverpool expires at the end of the season, and he has yet to ink an extension. Recent reports claim the Reds have no intention of offering the 35-year-old a new deal, a stance that was perhaps strengthened after his performance against LASK.

Van Dijk’s Momentous Night Sullied

Making his 200th appearance as club captain should have been a night to celebrate for Van Dijk. After all, Andoni Iraola’s men walked away with a thumping 6–3 win over LASK to keep their early league phase record unblemished this season.

Bradley Barcola bagged a hat-trick, Florian Wirtz put in a redemptive performance and even the young Lewis Koumas tallied a goal and an assist. But Van Dijk had another night to forget.

The Dutchman started the game on the bench, relishing in some much-needed rest before he came in for Jérémy Jacquet in the 62nd minute. By the 77th minute, LASK had three goals to their name.

It’s unfair and rather harsh to put all the blame on Van Dijk; Liverpool looked wildly uninterested in defending once they harnessed such a massive lead. But leisurely strolls back, lackadaisical positioning and poor awareness put the spotlight on the Liverpool skipper for all the wrong reasons.

The Reds have now conceded six goals in their last two matches, and only have three clean sheets to their name in 2026–27. If the club wants to hoist silverware in Iraola’s debut campaign, than it needs much, much more from its leader.