Virgil van Dijk sends classy message to Andy Robertson after Scotland's Euro 2024 humiliation

Liverpool’s strength under Jürgen Klopp was founded upon a rock solid feeling of togetherness. One for all and all for one, a band of brothers, or whatever other cliché you care to employ.

The bond between the players has recently been emphasized by a supportive message delivered by Virgil van Dijk to Andy Robertson. The Netherlands captain was speaking after his Scottish counterpart had suffered a demoralising and embarrassing 5-1 defeat to Germany in the opening match of Euro 2024.

While the defeat itself was hardly a shock, the manner of it and the final scoreline will have hugely dented Scotland’s belief. The Scots were behind inside 10 minutes, two down in 19 – with supposed Liverpool targets Florian Wirtz and Jamal Musiala grabbing the goals – and down to 10 men before the first half was done.

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"First half, we got it all wrong and we didn't show up," Robertson said after the match. "We left good players on the ball. Their game plan worked a million times better than ours. It wasn't because of the practice. It was because we didn't put it together. When big occasions come, you have to do that.”

With several third-place sides making it into the knockout phase, all is far from lost for Robertson’s men. The limited history from the two editions of the European Championships which also featured 24 teams shows that four points is enough to go through. Scotland will believe it can win and draw in some combination against Switzerland and Hungary, nations which can call upon Xherdan Shaqiri and Dominik Szoboszlai respectively.

The Liverpool left-back will have been heartened by Van Dijk’s words. The Dutchman was speaking to the media ahead of the Netherlands’ clash with Poland on Sunday.

“Germany made a very good impression. We played against them in the last international break,” Van Dijk said. While not as well beaten as the Scots, his side lost 2-1 in Frankfurt in March.

“Certain players can make the difference, yesterday [Friday] that was the case,” he continued. “The red card didn’t help Scotland but Germany are in a very good place at the moment and they’re playing at a high standard.”

“I think Robbo will be fine, he’s the captain there. It’s never easy to deal with situations like that but I’m very confident that he will be fine and lead the Scottish nation to better days,” Van Dijk concluded.

Liverpool.com says: Van Dijk is a class act, on and off the pitch. He didn't need to be so overtly supportive of his Liverpool teammate but that is how the squad behaves towards each other. Klopp will no doubt be proud at how his final Reds captain responded to his colleague's hardship.