Virgil van Dijk: Liverpool captain says Reds ‘gave up’ in FA Cup exit to Manchester City

Van Dijk’s foul on Nico O’Reilly gave Erling Haaland the opportunity to begin City’s demolition work from the penalty spot in the 39th minute.

The Norwegian striker scored a hat-trick in the 57th minute of the second half, while Antoine Semenyo scored his team’s third goal.

The result and performance increase the pressure on coach Arne Slot, who led the club to the Premier League title in his first season in charge last year, ahead of the first leg of their crucial Champions League quarter-final match against Paris St-Germain.

Van Dijk said of his manager: “It’s a common thing, isn’t it? Obviously he is responsible as a manager but we are the ones who have to do it on the pitch.

“Actually, PSG are waiting for us now. I watched them a little bit on Friday. It will be very difficult again. That’s why we have to be mentally ready as soon as possible.”

Liverpool travel to Paris on Wednesday (20:00 BST) before hosting the French champions the following Tuesday.

The team, which is in fifth place in the Premier League, will host Fulham in an important fixture between these matches for the chance to qualify for next season’s Champions League.

“If we want to get something out of this season, we have to try to produce something special in the next three games,” Van Dijk said.

“I’m trying to think about how we can turn this round around. We’ve had that for almost 75% of the season.

“We’re going back to games where we get beat by intensity or games that show how much you really want to do. That’s a hard thing to accept and everyone needs to look after themselves.”