Much of the build-up to the 2022 Champions League final focused on whether Liverpool could nullify the threat posed by Karim Benzema, who was already well on his way to winning the Ballon d'Or because of his goalscoring heroics in the knockout stage.
Michael Owen wasn't unduly concerned for his former side, though. Why? Because Liverpool had Virgil van Dijk. "Benzema's not as big as Van Dijk," Owen told GOAL, "he's not as strong as Van Dijk, and he's not as quick as Van Dijk."
And the ex-England international meant no disrespect to the Frenchman, whom he hailed as "a complete No.9". It was more a reflection of how highly he rated Van Dijk. "He's the best centre-half I've ever seen and I've played against some great centre-halves," Owen confessed. "I would argue that you could put any defender in the history of the game against Van Dijk, and I'm not sure there's a better one.
"I mean, who's better than him? I've only been on this planet 40 years but I've not seen anyone! At the minute, he might not go down as the game's greatest ever centre-half, because people will say he's not won everything or he's not yet been at the top for like 20 years. But I struggle to see any fault in him."