Salah discussions ongoing as Van Dijk calls to block 'outside noise' after Liverpool win

Virgil van Dijk says discussions are ongoing between Mohamed Salah and Liverpool as the captain urged his side to "be against the outside noise".

Dominik Szoboszlai's late penalty secured a 1-0 win over Inter in the Champions League on Tuesday, though much of the pre-match focus was on the excluded Salah.

Arne Slot and Liverpool's decision makers opted to leave the Egyptian winger on Merseyside for the trip to San Siro, after an explosive post-match interview following Saturday's 3-3 draw with Leeds United.

Salah had said he felt "thrown under the bus" by Liverpool and suggested his relationship with boss Slot had soured, prompting questions over his future at the club.

But Van Dijk says the matter is ongoing internally as Liverpool seek a resolution with Salah, who will head to the Africa Cup of Nations after Saturday's home clash with Brighton, should he be reintroduced.

"I'm not the one to speak if someone has to apologise," Van Dijk said on Amazon Prime when asked about his team-mate. "It's him airing his feelings for the past couple of days.

"That's something the club has to deal with, obviously, me as well. The focus was there; nothing else changed. He trained as well.

"The reality also is that Mo is going to Africa soon. I've known him for such a long time; we are good friends and have been through highs and lows.

"We speak, and those types of things will stay indoors as they should be. We have to brace ourselves and be against the outside noise.

"It's difficult, but it's a collective difficult situation that we're all in. Between Mo and the club, things are going on, and he's not here; that's the reality. I don't think anything has changed in terms of our focus and determination."

Tuesday marked just the third Champions League game that Salah has not played in since he joined Liverpool in 2017, previously going without him against Barcelona in May 2019 and PSV in January 2025.

Liverpool still managed their first away win in the competition without Salah being involved since November 2009 against Debreceni VSC.

"The most important thing is that you speak with each other," Van Dijk added. "You have to recover and get back to Brighton already.

"You have to celebrate good moments and enjoy them; otherwise, what's the point of winning? We stay overnight here, we have to sleep well and eat well. We try to never get too high or too low."

The win also saw Liverpool make it four games unbeaten (W2 D2), after only avoiding defeat in three of their previous 12 matches across all competitions (W3 L9).

"It's a good feeling of winning. Especially in a period we are in, trying to find consistency and something to build on," the Netherlands international continued.

"Hopefully, [Tuesday] is one of those performances. It was always going to be tough. We handled the game well. It could have been a 0-0 game in the end, but it ended positively for us in the end."