English Liverpool must 'build from the back' according to their Dutch defender captain Virgil van Dijk, after delivering their best performance of the season and beating Spanish Real Madrid 1-0 on Tuesday in the fourth round of the UEFA Champions League. Before the 2-0 win over Aston Villa on Saturday, Liverpool had lost six of its last seven matches and played ten games without keeping a clean sheet. In contrast, Real Madrid arrived with a high-scoring rate but created few chances, and was saved from a heavy defeat by its giant Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtoa, who made several world-class saves. 'It's easy to say that now because we won two games in a row. Sunday will be another tough test,' said Van Dijk. His compatriot, Liverpool manager Arne Slot, highlighted the importance of returning to Anfield for the team's improvement last week. Of the Reds' six defeats this season, only two were at home, one of which was when Slot fielded a different side in the League Cup last week against Crystal Palace. 'It helps you to play in front of these supporters, and to play against Real Madrid, because I think that forges the best in our players and our supporters,' Slot said. He added: 'A great performance against a team that has lost only once all season. In a chaotic world, you have to stay calm and look at things from a different perspective.' He continued: 'We all know how things go in football, it can change overnight.' Arsenal leads Liverpool by seven points in the Premier League standings and has also won all four of its Champions League games thanks to a run of eight clean sheets. Liverpool faces another major test in defending its Premier League title on Sunday, when Van Dijk will come up against Manchester City's Norwegian striker Erling Haaland, who has scored 26 goals this season for club and country. 'You can see that Arsenal are flying at the moment, and that's by keeping clean sheets and not giving up chances,' the veteran defender continued. He added: 'We have the quality to hurt any team on the counter-attack. Everything starts from the back. The score could have been a bit bigger, maybe. You've seen the hard work today.' And he concluded: 'We have to keep going.'
