Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk gave the perfect response when asked about Roma possibly being denied two clear penalties on the night in their Champions League semi-final clash.
Roma clearly felt hard done by as replays suggested Trent Alexander-Arnold got away with a handball in the box, while Edin Dzeko was also brought down by Loris Karius in the box but got nothing for his troubles.
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The Italian giants managed a 4-2 win on the night but ultimately lost 7-6 on aggregate after a nightmare showing in the first leg at Anfield last week, but that didn’t stop Roma president James Pallotta calling the officiating ‘an absolute joke’, as quoted by ESPN.
Van Dijk isn’t bothered, however, and when asked after the game about some of the decisions, he gave a clear response to sum up how just about every Liverpool fan would be feeling about making it into the final, even with a bit of luck on their side.
‘Who cares? We’re through,’ the Dutchman is quoted in the Metro. ‘We had a couple of opportunities as well, so, yeah, that’s football.
‘The ref made the decisions together with the assistants, and if the game plays like it played today…fair play, we’re through.’
Liverpool will now face Real Madrid in this month’s final in Kiev, and may need to up their game defensively if they are to stand any chance of keeping Cristiano Ronaldo and co. out.
The Reds rode their luck at times against far less daunting opponents in the form of Roma in their semi-final, so have to cut out the errors and hope the officials are perhaps as generous with them again if they are to come away with their sixth European Cup.