Virgil van Dijk and Wayne Rooney stood side by side after Liverpool’s win over Real Madrid on Tuesday night and were forced into an awkward conversation after a week of verbal ping-pong.

The Liverpool captain came to stand with Rooney and the rest of the Amazon Prime punditry team after a comprehensive victory over the La Liga leaders.

At the start of last week – after a terrible run of Liverpool form culminating in a 3-2 defeat to Brentford – Rooney said:? “No-one has seen this coming, it’s hit them quick, it’s hit them hard and I think they’re struggling to find a way out of it.

“This is a time where the manager and the leaders in the team need to figure it out very quickly.

“Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah, they’ve signed new deals but I don’t think they’ve really led that team this season.

“I think body language tells you a lot, and I think we’re seeing slightly different body language from the two of them. They are the top two players in that team and if their body language is not right, that affects everyone else.

“I might be wrong on this, but if I was a Liverpool fan or the manager, that would be a big concern for me.”

Liverpool then returned to winning ways against Aston Villa and Van Dijk responded by saying: “I didn’t hear him last year. It doesn’t hurt me. Just to come back to this particular player, obviously a legend, a big player of the game who inspired so many, I can say only positive things, but I feel that comment is just a bit of a lazy criticism.”

Rooney doubled down on that criticism this week, telling his BBC podcast: “I’ve got full respect for Virgil. I think he’s a fantastic player. My job now as a pundit is to give my opinions on what I feel. I’m sure if you ask him or Arne Slot, he probably hasn’t been as good as he has been over the last few years. That was my comment which I stick by.”

So that made for an awkward encounter at Anfield as Van Dijk joined the group pitch-side, greeting Rooney along with everybody else.

After some comments about the win over Real Madrid, host Gabby Logan asked Van Dijk about the criticism in recent weeks.

The full Virgil van Dijk and Wayne Rooney transcript:

Van Dijk: “It is easy to say now because we won twice in a row that it helped pretty well but in a world of chaos you have to try and stay calm and take perspective of things. In that meeting the time was October, so much football to be played, so many twists and turns that can happen and I think at times the noise was a lot.”

Logan: “You looking at anybody round here in particular?”

Van Dijk: “No, no not all but listen I think it is very important to put things in perspective, keep your head down and work and get out the situation because the quality we have, that is not the issue. It is about keep working and keep going.”

Robbie Fowler: “Does the outside noise affect you or are you just happy plodding along, doing what you need to do and try and put people right?”

Van Dijk: “I think all of you know here you are dealing with a squad of 25 players, a lot of young players and a couple of older players like myself and everyone lives a different life. I can say for me personally it doesn’t affect me but as a captain I am dealing with players who may be affected about it.”

Logan: “Has some of the criticism been fair, do you think?”

Van Dijk: “Of course, if you lose four or five games in a row as a Liverpool player then it is a fair criticism, that is absolutely normal in that sense. But I think it is over the top at times as well at that point, but that is because we live in a world with so many platforms and so many people can say stuff, it will be picked up and made bigger. I think it is good that ex-players who played at the highest level who dealt with difficult moments as well puts a lot in perspective.”

Rooney:“I am not saying anything any more because I think I spurred them on and put them on a winning streak!

“I think what I’ve said was fair when you win the Premier League and then go on a run where you lose three or four games in a row, which you don’t expect from Liverpool over the last few years.

“As Virgil is captain I think that is your opportunity to go and lead the players and that is what I was saying. That happens in football and I think the response has been great from Virgil and the team.”

Van Dijk: “I think if you watched games then I would definitely take responsibility. I think the comment that I signed my new deal and then it was like ‘that is it’ and I let it slide, I think that was a bit… but that’s my personal opinion and we move on.”