Former Celtic hero and now world superstar Virgil van Dijk has recalled a meeting between Hoops players and the police before a pivotal Glasgow derby in 2015.
In the first meeting of the sides since Rangers’ liquidation in 2012, the sides played out a Scottish League Cup semi-final at Hampden.
It was the only Glasgow derby in which van Dijk played, but he and his teammates strolled it, coming away deserved 2-0 victors.
Leigh Griffiths and Kris Commons scored for the Hoops in a game where the preparation was more intense than the action itself.
Recently speaking on The Rest Is Football podcast with Gary Lineker and Micah Richards, van Dijk opened up on the fierce experience. “I played it (Glasgow derby) once”, he said.
“They (Rangers) were in the Championship back then, they weren’t in the top-flight.
“We played a semi-final at Hampden and I would say the whole preparations and the meetings with police for example before the game to get you ready was more intense than the actual game. But it’s a special game.
“It’s an intense battle but at the time when I was there, it was more intense outside of the game than the actual game.”
He spent just two years in Glasgow but that was enough for van Dijk to make a noteworthy impact.
The Dutch centre-half was a Rholls-Royce when he played for Celtic and his move South of the border was fully deserved.
Now a fully-fledged Premier League star with countless medals to his name, it is pleasing to hear the 32-year-old reflect on his time with the Hoops.
