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Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk and Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney came face-to-face in an uncomfortable television interview after the Merseyside giants had beaten Real Madrid in the Champions League.
Rooney has been in a war of words with the Reds skipper recently, with Liverpool enduring a difficult spell during the early stages of the campaign.
Liverpool was back at its scintillating best on Tuesday evening though as it delivered a remarkable performance to overcome Real Madrid at Anfield. Alexis Mac Allister nodded home the decisive goal just after the hour mark after connecting with a cross from Dominik Szoboszlai.
The hosts could have triumphed by a more emphatic scoreline had it not been for the heroics of Real goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, who produced a series of outstanding stops.
After Liverpool's loss to Brentford last month, Rooney had questioned Van Dijk's demeanour.
At the weekend, he targeted Van Dijk and Mohamed Salah, both of whom penned fresh deals last season.
"This is a time when the manager and the leaders in the team need to figure it out very quickly," the former England skipper declared on his podcast.
"Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah, they've signed new deals but I don't think they have really led the team this season."
Van Dijk was interviewed by Amazon Prime straight after Liverpool's victory over Madrid, with some of Rooney's recent remarks being raised during the conversation.
The Dutch international explained: "It's easy to say now [it's going well]because we won twice in a row. In a world of chaos we have to stay calm and keep the perspective of things. There is so much football to be played, so many twists and turns that can happen. At times, the noise was a lot."
When asked by host Gabby Logan if he was "looking at anyone in particular", Van Dijk responded: "No, no, not at all. I think it's very important to put things into perspective, keep your head down, working and get out the situation, because our quality is not the issue we have.
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"It will always be made bigger, but I think it's important that top players, those who have played at the top - who have also dealt with a lot of difficult moments - put things into perspective, as well.
"Of course [the criticism has been fair], if you are losing games as a Liverpool player for four or five in a row, it's a fair criticism.
"That's fairly normal in that sense, but I think it's over the top at times as well. But that's because we live in a world with so many platforms and so many people can say stuff."
Rooney then added his two cents, joking: "I'm not saying anything [laughing]. I think I spurred them on and put them on a winning streak.
“I think what I said was fair, when you win the Premier League and then you go on a run where you three or four games in a row, which you don;’t expect from Liverpool over the last few years, and with Virgil as the captain, I think that’s your opportunity then to go and lead the players.
“That’s what I was saying, and I think that happens in football, and I think the response has been great from Virgil and from the team.”
Following Rooney's account of the situation, Van Dijk responded to the former United striker: "I think if you watch games, you'd see I take responsibility. I thought the comment about me signing my new deal and then all is fine, I thought that was a bit... But that is my personal opinion."
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