ON THIS DAY in 2013, Virgil Van Dijk made his debut for Celtic in a 2-0 win over Aberdeen at Pittodrie. Samaras went through on goal when Jamie Langfield brought him down for a penalty – which Kris Commons scored. In the second half, James Forrest made it 2-0 after a deflected effort looped over the sub goalkeeper.
17th August 2013, Aberdeen 0:2 Celtic.
Commons and Forrest. @kcommons15 Virgil makes his Celtic debut. @VirgilvDijk pic.twitter.com/t8zEDea5Mr
— Li'l Ze (@LilZe_7) August 16, 2021
The game was the first in the Green and White for Van Dijk since joining from Groningen and it was a 13 minute cameo, coming on for Efe Ambrose. The Nigerian defender started in the centre of defence beside Frenchman Steven Mouyokolo. Although, it is fair to say that Van Dijk has enjoyed a better career progression than the pairing Neil Lennon selected in the Granite City.
The Dutchman has since gone on to be one of the best defenders in world football having won the Champions League and the Premier League with Liverpool.
Van Dijk won two Premiership titles in Glasgow, as well as the League Cup under Ronny Deila but he also played European football, Champions League group stages in 2013 and Europa League Last 32 the following year. A £12m move to Southampton followed and two years after that, Van Dijk became the most expensive defender in the world after a £75m move to Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool.
