Whoever said that all men are created equal must not have met Virgil van Dijk.
If a clean sheet at Turf Moor convinced Jurgen Klopp that the imperious Dutchman was back to his world-beating best, then this performance will have won over anyone who disagreed with the Reds manager on Sunday afternoon.
Van Dijk was outstanding at the back here as he proved too strong, powerful and quick-witted for Inter during a huge 2-0 victory in the San Siro.
At one point, when faced with a one-v-one situation against Van Dijk, Lautaro Martinez simply admitted defeat early and turned back before Denzel Dumfries and Edin Dzeko were both thwarted in speed and strength battles.
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Dzeko almost got in behind the Liverpool defence in the first half before Van Dijk turned on the afterburners to make sure he got there first before shepherding it back to Alisson Becker.
Moments later, Dutch colleague Dumfries found his captain in no mood to allow him in down the left before another big header cleared lines at the back
A couple of telescopic legs were then thrown at dangerous-looking deliveries early in the second half as Liverpool used the full range of their £75m insurance policy.
But as Inter smelled blood during a spritely opening to restart, Van Dijk helped marshal his younger defensive colleagues, in particular the 22-year-old Ibrahima Konate alongside him, before the tide of the game turned with three substitutions from Klopp.
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The shutout means the Reds have now kept six clean sheets in their last eight games with Van Dijk integral to that impressive run of miserly form.
"Everyone expected to be under pressure, they are a very good team and it is the Champions League," Van Dijk said after the game.
"I think one of the messages we said is that we had to be ready to suffer and that is what we did."
It was Van Dijk's Anfield arrival that changed Liverpool from thrill-seeking, adventure-chasers in the Champions League to shut-out merchants capable of going all the way to the final in 2018.
They followed up their silver medals with gold in 2019 and with the Netherlands captain nearing the astronomical levels displayed pre-knee injury in 2020, they will have every confidence of him steering them there once more on this evidence.
