Virgil Van Dijk defends his team after humiliating loss to Real.

Liverpool’s 5-2 defeat at the hands of Real Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final has prompted widespread criticism of their defending.

A number of pundits and former players, including Jamie Carragher, have been quick to point out the mistakes that cost Liverpool dearly at the Alfredo Di Stefano Stadium.

However, Liverpool centre-back Virgil van Dijk has refused to panic in the face of such criticism. Speaking after the match, the Dutchman acknowledged that the Liverpool defence is “not made up of robots” and that mistakes are an inevitable part of the game, particularly when facing a team of Real Madrid’s quality.

“Obviously they have the quality, they are one of the biggest clubs in the world and they punish you, that’s what they did to us today,” Van Dijk said. “Mistakes happen, we are not robots and unfortunately it is the case. The only thing we can do is learn from it and focus on the next one to make sure it doesn’t happen.”

The result leaves Liverpool with a mountain to climb in the second leg, needing to score at least three goals at the Bernabeu to stand a chance of progressing. Despite this daunting task, Van Dijk was keen to stress that Liverpool would not give up without a fight, stating that “when the time is right we’ll focus and we will give everything and represent the club as best as we can.”

Manager Jurgen Klopp, for his part, was also keen to emphasise that Liverpool would not simply roll over in the second leg. “It’s not done yet,” he said. “We have to go to Madrid and try to win the game there. It’s a big task, but it’s football and it’s not the first time for us.”

Despite the optimism of Van Dijk and Klopp, there can be no doubt that Liverpool’s defending will need to be significantly improved if they are to have any chance of overturning the deficit in Madrid. Only time will tell whether they are up to the task.