The brilliance of Liverpool's attack is often discussed and with good reason at that.However, the achievements of Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane in recent months shouldn't overwhelm the remarkable strides Liverpool have made towards improving their defence.In the early weeks of the season, the Reds were routinely mocked for their regular defensive errors and frailties from set pieces.Since the turn of 2018, however, the club has brought about vast improvements.It doesn't seem the obvious argument to make after a 4-2 defeat but the fact Liverpool have reached the Champions League final is, in part, credit to small yet crucial tweaks in their back four.

Defensive improvements for Liverpool

Obviously, the biggest change is the addition of Virgil van Dijk.

After a fairytale start to life in the Merseyside derby, the ex-Southampton man took a few games to adapt before truly coming into his own at Anfield.

Fast forward three months and he has become nothing short of a rock in Liverpool's backline.

Riise tweets about Lovren

However, the vast improvements made by Dejan Lovren shouldn't be forgotten.

The Croatian is still prone to the odd mistake, but has thrived in recent months alongside Van Dijk and was particularly impressive in the quarter-final tie with Manchester City.

And with another imperious performance against Roma on Wednesday night, former Liverpool defender and pundit John Arne Riise simply couldn't resist tweeting.

Aside from giving Lovren the thumbs up over his showing in Roma, he alluded to the insults the 28-year-old has received this season and how happy he looked at full-time. 

In fact, his tweet was pretty beautiful - take a look a the post below:

A round of applause for Riise.

Lovren deserves all the appreciation and respect for his recent performances and, importantly, for his handling of adverse circumstances throughout.

The Croatian has received unnecessary criticism across the season and that was no more apparent than after his poor performance against Tottenham in October.

Posting on his Instagram page that very month, Lovren stated: "I don't mind when people talk s*** about me, it says more about them! But I cannot ignore when my family is threatened. I just can't and won't accept that. Disgusting."

Kopites came together, though, and admirably voted for him as their Player of the Month.

And now, as the end of the season approaches, Lovren has proved the haters wrong with his performances on the pitch and handling of himself off the pitch.

Do you think Lovren and Van Dijk is Liverpool's best partnership? Have your say in the comments section below.