Defeating Bale, Van Dijk Claims Champions League Fastest Player Status

Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk recorded the highest speed in the Champions League last season. The results of the calculations even exceeded other nimble attackers like Leroy Sane to Gareth Bale.The Dutchman played a major role in forming a strong back line last season. Thanks to that, Liverpool successfully came out as champions in the Champions League by beating Tottenham in the final round.
The slick performance earned him the title of UEFA's best player in the 2018-2019 season. Van Dijk beat two players who often get the award, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Also recently, he was a finalist in the 2019 Best FIFA Men's Player award. And lately, his name is often referred to as the strongest candidate to win the prestigious individual trophy at the Ballon d'Or.

Apparently, Van Dijk was not only reliable in guarding defense. He is also known to have a high speed that even defeated nimble players like Leroy Sane (Manchester City) and Gareth Bale (Real Madrid).

The 28-year-old's real speed was actually seen when Liverpool met Barcelona in the Champions League quarter-final first leg last season. From the UEFA report, Van Dijk recorded a run speed of 34.5 kilometers per hour.

The moment can be seen when Messi was leading the attack when Barcelona had a 3-0 lead. Van Dijk retreated to prevent the Argentine striker from sending the ball to one of Jordi Alba and Luis Suarez who also joined in the attack.

Van Dijk was only slightly ahead of Leroy Sane who recorded a speed of 34.4 kilometers per hour when he met Hoffenheim. It also surpasses Manchester City defender Kyle Walker, who has a speed of 34.2 kilometers per hour against Tottenham in the quarter-finals.

In fourth place is Gareth Bale with a record 33.8 kilometers per hour when Real Madrid meets AS Roma. Then followed by former Schalke players, Breel Embolo, Rafa Silva, and Sane again - all recorded a run speed of 33.5 kilometers per hour.

Meanwhile, Dusan Tadic became the player who did the most sprints in the Champions League. The Ajax Amsterdam player pocketed a record of 62.25 sprints and outperformed Napoli's Jose Josejon, who did 55.83 sprints.

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