Nine months, nine months too long. For the first time since Jordan Pickford's erratic lunge in the Merseyside Derby last October, Virgil van Dijk strutted out in a Liverpool shirt once again on Thursday evening.
This had been a long time coming. The absence of the Dutch talisman, so often the linchpin in the Reds' Champions League and Premier League triumphs, was sorely felt last season amid a turbulent and chaotic campaign for Jurgen Klopp's side
But, ahead of their Premier League opener against Norwich on August 14, this was a welcome return to on-field action for Van Dijk - and for centre back partner Joe Gomez who entered the pitch with him too.