Why isn't Liverpool star Virgil van Dijk at Euro 2020 with Holland?
Sign up to our email updates Invalid Email Something went wrong, please try again later. Sign Up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice  Virgil van Dijks injury in the first half of the Merseyside Derby in October was enough for him to miss the rest of Liverpools title defending season, but has also ruled him out of the rescheduled European Championships. The blow came in the first of the two derby matches during the course of the Premier League season in a fiery affair at Goodison Park as goalkeeper Jordan Pickford lunged at the Liverpool defender. As a result, the towering centre-back suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury which required surgery after the reckless tackle. Throughout the course of the season, the Holland captain has undergone rehabilitation in Dubai before returning to Merseyside to continue the process at their AXA Training Complex. (Image: (Photo by Broer van den Boom/BSR Agency/Getty Images))  On the pitch, Liverpool struggled and the signs were glaringly obvious that they were missing their 75 million man, but on the final day, they squeezed their way into third place in the Premier League table thanks to Sadio Manes double in the win over Crystal Palace. As footage emerged of the Liverpool defender on the training pitch again running with and without a football, the question of whether he would be in Holland manager Frank de Boers 26-man Euro 2020 squad arose. Sadly he was unable to prove his fitness in time and has instead focused his efforts on preparing for next season. At the beginning of May, the news broke that the Liverpool vice-captain would not be going to the Pan-European competition in order to focus on his recovery from the ligament injury that has already kept him sidelined for seven months. I feel physically it is the right decision that Ive decided not to go to the Euros and to go into my last phase of rehab during the off-season, the former Southampton man said. So, the full focus will be on pre-season with the club and thats a realistic goal, so I am looking forward to that. Obviously I am very gutted to miss the Euros, to miss the European Championship and leading out my own country there, but things have been like they have and I have to accept it  we all have to accept it. I think the decision to not go is the right decision in the grand scheme of things. Its tough, but Im at peace with it.  Van Dijk played in nine of his side's 10 qualifying matches, with the 29-year-old scoring in the 4-0 win over Belarus in their European Championships opener as they finished two points behind Germany in the standings. Drawn in Group C, Holland will play Ukraine, Austria and North Macedonia with Oranje looking to progress beyond the group stage for the first time in eight years after they famously failed to qualify for Euro 2016 in France. France, England and Belgium are among the favourites for the competition with De Boers team outsiders to be crowned tournament winners as they look to repeat the heroics of Ruud Gullit and Marco van Basten from the 1988 European Championships. Let us know in the comments section below