sport news Virgil Van Dijk hoping to erase Nou Camp nightmare as Liverpool face Barcelona ...

Liverpool defender Virgil Van Dijk returns to the Nou Camp this week hoping to erase the memory of his only other appearance at the home of Barcelona.

The newly-crowned Professional Footballers' Association player of the year was a member of the Celtic team humiliated 6-1 in December 2013 - they were 6-0 down after 72 minutes.

What was more galling on that night was that Lionel Messi was not even playing.

Virgil Van Dijk suffered a 6-1 defeat the last time he played at Barcelona

Virgil Van Dijk suffered a 6-1 defeat the last time he played at Barcelona

There is no chance of that happening on Wednesday night, with the Argentina international being handed generous periods of rest by coach Ernesto Valverde in the games leading up to this Champions League semi-final first leg, but Van Dijk is relishing the prospect.

He is also looking to address his history with Barcelona.

'It is a nice stadium, an historic stadium and for me it was a great experience to play over there,' said the Holland captain.

'It was my first time, my only time and my last time so far so I am looking forward to playing them again, one of the best teams in the world, but I think this can be totally different than when I was there the last time.'

The PFA newly-crowned player of the year was humiliated as a Celtic player in December 2013

The PFA newly-crowned player of the year was humiliated as a Celtic player in December 2013

Despite Celtic's result, Van Dijk came away with plenty of plaudits but - despite that - he was not happy with the performance.

'I saw some videos, but if you are losing 6-1, as a defender, you can't say you had a good game,' he added.

'But the good thing for me personally was I took a lot of experience from that night and that helped me, obviously.'

Van Dijk's imperious form, and the way he has marshalled Liverpool's defence this season to

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