Virgil van Dijk Says Liverpool Ready for 'Big Fight' vs. Bayern Munich in UCL

Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk has said his team are expecting a "big fight" when they visit Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday. 

The Reds head to the Allianz Arena for the second leg of their last-16 showdown having drawn the first leg 0-0 at Anfield. Van Dijk, who has been Liverpool's star man this season, was suspended for the first fixture.

Ahead of the game, Van Dijk said he is expecting a battle in Bavaria and for the Reds to have some tough moments, per Dominic King of the Daily Mail:

"Sometimes you have to know how to manage games because at times it is going to be very hard, and we will need to patient, ready for what is coming. There will times when it is going to be very tough, we are going to be under pressure because they have a lot of quality.

"They showed that already at Anfield. But we will definitely have our own moments because of the quality we have as well. We know they have lots of quality. They showed us a lot of respect here already, and we need to use that respect and play our game and go through.

"It is going to be [an] exciting tie. They played very well here, kept it tight and they showed us a lot of respect. They changed a bit the way they played I think, so we need to be up for a big fight because they are probably going to come all in, especially in the beginning."

Rafael Hernandez of Grup14 commented on how influential Van Dijk has been in a tremendous campaign for the Reds so far:

When the draw was made, facing Bayern didn't appear to be too daunting a prospect for Liverpool, as the Munich side had been a long way short of their usual standards in late 2018. However, they go into this game in their best form of the season.

Having earned an impressive 5-1 win at Borussia Monchengladbach last weekend, Nico Kovac's team hammered Wolfsburg 6-0 on Saturday to go back to the top of the Bundesliga table.

In both of those encounters, Bayern's star striker Robert Lewandowski netted twice, pushing him to a landmark total of Bundesliga goals overall:

Stopping Bayern on their own patch is a major challenge for Liverpool. While the German juggernaut are a team in need of some overhaul in the summer, the veteran players they have within their ranks are experienced at this level and have proved they can handle the big occasion.

Liverpool are in a good position, though. An away goal for the Reds would be massive and something you'd expect them to notch with Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino on the field. With Van Dijk back in the XI, they'll also have a tremendous platform from which to push on from.