Virgil van Dijk claims people don't realise how 'massive' Celtic are

The Liverpool defender made 115 appearances for the Hoops during a two-year spell between 2013 and 2015 before earning his big £13million move to the English Premier League with Southampton.

Van Dijk, 32, had just the one Glasgow derby experience, a 2-0 League Cup semi-final win in 2015, due to Rangers dropping out the top-flight. 

However, the Dutchman claims what he did get to witness was intense - especially matters away from the football pitch.

Speaking on The Rest Is Football podcast, he said: "I played it once. The whole preparations and the meetings with police for example for the game to get you ready was more intense than the actual game. It’s a special game.

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“The city is divided with the two clubs and it’s amazing to have played it at least once. It’s an intense battle but at the time I was there, it was more intense outside the game.

"We really enjoyed it over there. The city in general was very bubbly. 

“Of course you come across some fans of the other team but same goes here. In Liverpool we have the same in this regards.

"The fans from the other team you come across are fanatic about their team but it’s still in a respectful way they approach you. People don’t really realise how massive Celtic is.”

Asked about the difference between the Scottish Premiership and England's top-tier , Van Dijk continued: "For me, the biggest difference was going from Holland to Scotland. I came to a team [Celtic] that had 75 per cent of possession with the ball, playing against teams that sit in and a lot of directness, a lot of challenges, that I wasn't used to in Holland that much. 

"Most of them were even games, ball possession games, so it was a big development in the way I played but something I needed and something that prepared me for coming to the Premier League where it was a lot more physical and faster in the pace of play."