Nations League Final: Van Dijk and Ronaldo clash after stunning seasons
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As Virgil van Dijk and Cristiano Ronaldo prepare to do battle for Nations League glory, we crunched the Opta numbers behind their seasons.
The outcome of an anticipated titanic battle between Cristiano Ronaldo and Virgil van Dijk is likely to have a huge say in whether Portugal or Netherlands win the inaugural Nations League.
A stunning hat-trick from Ronaldo saw hosts Portugal to a 3-1 semi-final win over Switzerland, while Van Dijk played with typical composure in a game otherwise laced with defensive errors in Guimaraes – the Netherlands coming from behind to beat England 3-1 in extra time.
Van Dijk was named the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) Player of the Year on account of his imperious form for Liverpool and scooped man-of-the-match honours as Jurgen Klopp’s side won the Champions League final against Tottenham last weekend.
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As such there is an increasing clamour for the 27-year-old to be in contention for the Ballon d’Or, but, at Estadio do Dragao on Sunday, a five-time winner of the award will be doing everything to ensure Van Dijk’s excellent season ends on a low note.
Using Opta data, we have a look two phenomenal campaigns that will collide and conclude in Porto.
By: Radio1Sports|Ghana|Nana Gyasi