Van Dijk in trouble, what he needs with Netherlands to avoid being left out of the Euros

The final stretch of the Euro 2024 qualifiers for Liverpool's players has become increasingly complicated for those who have not been able to secure one of the two places in their group, with the Netherlands battling for the final place in the group with Greece, with whom they are level on 12 points. The duel between Greece and the Netherlands was crucial in the resolution of the Group B playoffs, with the Greeks having a points advantage over the Dutch, which they saw vanish in the last play of the match with a penalty goal by Virgil van Dijk, an element that put his country back in the fight for a ticket to the European Championship with only two games left to play.

The Netherlands' hard-fought victory left Group B with France as the top qualifier with 18 points, with the Greeks and the Dutch in an evenly-matched battle for second place that today has no specific owner. With both countries tied on 12 points, the group's resolution will happen when one of them fails in these remaining knockout matches, with Virgil van Dijk and his team-mates having zero margin to fail if they are not to consummate yet another failure in the history of this nation.

Despite the two countries being level on points, Virgil van Dijk and his team-mates have an advantage over Greece with a game in hand but with the same points accumulated, with the Netherlands needing to manage that opportunity to overtake the Greeks on points to be in contention for Europe's most important national team title, with the Dutch only having to beat Ireland and Gibraltar to avoid relying on any outside results to get them into the final contest in 2024.

Van Dijk looks to lead a Dutch revival

After a difficult few years for the Dutch national team, with World Cup eliminations and woeful displays that have taken them away from the elite, captain Virgil Van Dijk now feels the need to lead this renewed young generation on the road to success, with an important first step being the chance to lead the Netherlands back to the top.