Liverpool vs Real Madrid will make for blockbuster viewing in the Champions League this season.

Football fans were left rubbing their hands together when the quarter-final draw guaranteed a rerun of the 2018 final, which infamously saw Sergio Ramos become a hated figure on Merseyside.

A dramatic 90 minutes in Kiev saw the Real Madrid captain involved in incidents with Loris Karius and Mohamed Salah, drawing accusations of deliberately injuring opponents in both instances.

Liverpool vs Real Madrid

As a result, there are no shortage of Kopites hoping for revenge this time around and that's led some fans down a rabbit hole of debates when it comes to Los Blancos' pantomime villain.

That's because the social media narrative seems to have shifted from Ramos' infamous challenge on Salah to a fascinating argument about whether Virgil van Dijk is a defender than him or not.

And while I think we can all agree that Ramos has enjoyed the more decorated and iconic career, it's a much tougher question to answer if we're talking about the two players in their prime.

Virgil van Dijk vs Sergio Ramos

Now, we don't pretend to have the solutions to either quandary, but we couldn't help wading into the debate by assessing how EA Sports' FIFA series thinks Ramos and Van Dijk compare.

Using data collected by Futhead.com, we have taken Ramos and Van Dijk's base cards on FIFA 21 and seen who emerges victorious in each of the 29 in-game attributes that forms an overall rating.

Or to put it another way: how does one of the biggest banks of footballing data settle the Van Dijk vs Ramos debate? Well, fear not, because you can check out the fascinating answer down below:

In Game: Physical

Acceleration: Virgil van Dijk and Sergio Ramos (72)

Agility: Sergio Ramos (78)

Balance: Sergio Ramos (66)

Jumping: Sergio Ramos (93)

Reactions: Sergio Ramos (92)

Sprint speed: Virgil van Dijk (79)

Stamina: Sergio Ramos (81)

Strength: Virgil van Dijk (92)

In Game: Skill

Ball control: Sergio Ramos (83)

Crossing: Sergio Ramos (66)

Curve: Sergio Ramos (74)

Dribbling: Virgil van Dijk (70)

Finishing: Sergio Ramos (65)

Free kick: Sergio Ramos (76)

Heading: Sergio Ramos (92)

Long passing: Virgil van Dijk (86)

Long shots: Virgil van Dijk and Sergio Ramos (64)

Defensive awareness: Virgil van Dijk (93)

Penalties: Sergio Ramos (92)

Short passing: Sergio Ramos (82)

Shot power: Virgil van Dijk (81)

Sliding tackle: Sergio Ramos (90)

Standing tackle: Virgil van Dijk (93)

Volleys: Sergio Ramos (69)

In Game: Mental

Aggression: Sergio Ramos (90)

Interceptions: Virgil van Dijk (90)

Positioning: Sergio Ramos (73)

Vision: Sergio Ramos (71)

Composure: Virgil van Dijk (90)

Final score: Sergio Ramos 19-10 Virgil van Dijk

Victory for Ramos

So, there you have it, Van Dijk might boast a marginally better overall rating on FIFA 21, but you're getting more bang for your bucks with Ramos in terms of quality across the board.

And given that Van Dijk and Ramos both have an eye for goals, as well as the odd free-kick, at the opposite end of the pitch, it's certainly a fair comparison in terms of the more attacking data too.

It must be said that Van Dijk does hold his own a lot better than the 19-10 scoreline would suggest in terms of defensive stats alone, but he clearly still has some way to go to shake off Ramos.

And while, no, we're not pretending that a video game has come anywhere close to settling the debate, make no mistake that it's an incredibly close call no matter how you look at it.