Van Dijk opened up about his second-place finish in the 2019 Ballon d'Or, in which he was just seven points behind winner Lionel Messi, whom he called ‘the best player in the world’ as well as Cristiano Ronaldo.
Virgil van Dijk almost made history in 2019 when the defender came within seven points of snatching top spot from Leo Messi in the Ballon d'Or 2019 voting, which would have made him the first Dutch defender to win the prestigious award in as many years.
However, it was the Argentinian star who won the award again and the Liverpool defender had to settle for second place, something he was not at all happy about, as being sandwiched between beasts like Messi and Ronaldo was something he "never would have imagined".
"For me personally, obviously it was already an amazing feeling to be nominated for a Ballon d'Or that when I was younger, I didn't really think about it. All these things would be too far to think about," said the Dutch centre-back.
"To then become second to Messi, who was arguably the best player in football and Cristiano, same story, it's surreal. To be there, it was a very special night."