Virgil van Dijk raised a few eyebrows when he recently revealed that Olivier Giroud was, in fact, the toughest opponent that he's ever faced.
While Giroud is, of course, a mightily impressive striker well on his way to becoming France's all-time leading male goalscorer, you'd have been forgiven for thinking that Van Dijk might have chosen, say, Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi.
But when Gary Neville put the question to Van Dijk on The Overlap this week, naming his own bogeyman as Louis Saha, the Liverpool star was quick to choose Giroud as the thorn in his side.
What did Van Dijk say about Giroud?
“Funnily enough, [Olivier] Giroud,” Van Dijk responded. “I always felt like I got him, but somehow, he always managed to score. Whether it was for Arsenal, Chelsea or France, he always scored.
“I said to him when we won the league, we won 5-2 we were 3-0 up or something and he scored a scrappy goal, I think it was against the crossbar and fell down, scrappy goal, I said to him: ‘You scored again?!’
“So I would say he is the guy that scores against me, and just that annoying person.
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“There’s so many fantastic strikers I’ve played against, Messi, [Sergio] Aguero, [Erling] Haaland is a difficult one because he has everything, but I’m going for Giroud as he’s my bogeyman – annoying!”
It's a fascinating answer, but an unexpected one, no doubt, so fans understandably started to rack their brains for times where Giroud got the better of Van Dijk.
Yes, the Dutchman mentions the example from 2020 where Giroud scrambles the ball home, but were there anymore direct, head-to-head instances of the former Arsenal and Chelsea striker besting arguably the number one defender in the world?
Montage of Van Dijk's clashes with Giroud
Well, true to Van Dijk's assertions about the difficulties of playing against Giroud, there certainly is with Twitter user @CFCDUBois compiling a montage that shows exactly why the Frenchman proved to be his kryptonite.
In yet another convincing display of Giroud's underrated status in the modern game, the now AC Milan forward can be seen both toppling back-lines that featured Van Dijk and getting one over the 31-year-old in direct confrontations.
So if you were confused at first to hear Van Dijk's answer on his toughest ever opponent, then be confused no longer by watching the remarkable video down below:
Video: Giroud proving that he's Van Dijk's kryptonite
https://twitter.com/cfcdubois/status/1588296657153970176
Van Dijk never looked so human!
Giroud is Van Dijk's bogeyman
It doesn't half feel surreal watching a compilation of a defender often so impeccable that he came within a nose hair of winning the Ballon d'Or getting beaten from pillar to post by a striker many would argue isn't quite world-class.
But no matter what you think of Giroud generally, it's clear from the compilation that he's one of few centre forwards in the business who's got Van Dijk's number.
It seems that both his remarkable dominance in the air is enough to outdo a fellow physical specimen in Van Dijk and that his penalty area predation allows him to get the better of the Liverpool's well organised defence.
ISTANBUL, TURKEY - AUGUST 14: Olivier Giroud of Chelsea is challenged by Virgil van Dijk of Liverpool during the UEFA Super Cup match between Liverpool and Chelsea at Vodafone Park on August 14, 2019 in Istanbul, Turkey. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
And it just goes to show that even the very best of defenders have their bogeyman, even if they're not the goalscorer that you might have expected. Fair play, Olivier.
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