The Liverpool captain suffered a humiliating opening few minutes for the side in its match with Villarreal, as the defender was at the center of a slow start

Virgil van Dijk cut a frustrated figure in the opening stages of Liverpool's clash with Villarreal in the Champions League, as he was left flustered in a slow start for the Reds.

The club captain, who has been a reliable presence at the back for the Merseyside outfit over the years, was anything but that against the Spanish side early on. Van Dijk initially misjudged a ball that saw Georges Mikautadze given a chance from a ball over the top, which fortunately led to nothing, before a mix-up from a throw-in cost the home side some possession.

Then, just moments later, the experienced defender was at fault for a costly mistake. The Netherlands international looked to head an aerial ball back to Alisson Becker, but failed to get the right connection on it, giving it to Mikautadze for the Georgian striker to find the back of the net.

It summed up a nightmare start for the Reds, one that continued as Sergi Cardona doubled the lead for Villarreal, before Alexis Mac Allister pulled one back for the hosts, with Ronald Araujo then striking to level up the game right on the stroke of halftime.

The two goals covered up something of a humiliation for Van Dijk earlier in the game, with Opta Analyst revealing that it was the defender's first error leading to a goal in the Champions League since 2019, a seven-year spell that has come to an end.

It was the sort of slow start the Reds have seen too often under Andoni Iraola, giving the players a huge mountain to climb for the rest of the game.

Opta also reported that Mikautadze's opener was the second-earliest goal conceded at home in a major European competition, with the earliest coming in 2001.

It's somewhat ironic that the early struggles came from Van Dijk, considering the captain himself had been speaking about staying resilient ahead of the game.

Writing in his program notes for the match, he said: "We are not perfect, by any means, but we are all working extremely hard to become a team that is hard to beat, which sticks together and which can compete and get results consistently.

"That is what is expected of you when you play for Liverpool, and everyone inside the dressing room understands that, I can assure you."

However, Liverpool bounced back before the half ended and took a 2-2 draw into the break. Sergi Cardona scored a second for Villarreal to put Liverpool on the verge of a crisis, until they responded.

Alexis Mac Allister and Ronald Araujo headed Liverpool back into the game, with the latter occurring on the stroke of halftime. Araujo rushed to the crowd after scoring and has become a big fan favorite at Anfield.