sport news James Milner tells Jamie Redknapp why he'll go first if Champions League final ... trends now

No prizes for guessing who will step up first should the Champions League final go to a penalty shootout.

You’ll see James Milner position the ball, take eight steps back, place his hands on his hips, and then, as the Stade de France holds its breath, it’s him versus Thibaut Courtois.

As one of Jurgen Klopp’s ‘mentality monsters’, Milner is Liverpool’s tone-setter. As he was in the Carabao Cup final, scoring to the left of Kepa Arrizabalaga. As he was in the FA Cup final earlier this month, beating Edouard Mendy to the right.

Ahead of Saturday's European showdown in Paris, Sportsmail’s Jamie Redknapp visited Liverpool to meet the marathon man who is still going strong at 36.

They talked Real Madrid and revenge, Jurgen Klopp and his boxer shorts, being teetotal and being boring, but started where it could all end on Saturday — with penalties. Kieran Gill listened in…

JAMES MILNER: The first final we reached was the League Cup against Manchester City in 2016. It was the manager’s first year and my first. I was listed as the fifth penalty taker but didn’t get to take one because we’d lost. From then on, I’ve said, ‘I want one’.

JAMIE REDKNAPP: Not only one. You want the first one and that’s gutsy. Have you practised much?

MILNER: Me, Mo (Salah), Fabinho and a few of the lads practise before every game. We’ve done it all season. With the change to the away-goals rule, we predicted there would be more shootouts, so we’ve practised more. The club brought in these neuro11 guys (a company in Germany that coach penalty-taking). You’ve got players who may never take a penalty apart from in a shootout. The ball doesn’t move. The goal doesn’t move. So it’s making them think about their process rather than it being, ‘Oh, by the way, you’re taking a penalty, off you go’.

REDKNAPP: In the FA Cup final two weeks ago, Kostas Tsimikas took the winning penalty, but I noticed you were facing the other way. Why weren’t you looking?

MILNER: I wanted to watch the Liverpool fans. You don’t know when it’ll be your last trip to Wembley, do you? I fancied Kostas — he’s got a great left foot — and I wanted to see the fans’ reaction.

It was class. It was like when we won the Premier League in 2020. All the lads were watching the Chelsea game (against Manchester City which confirmed Liverpool as champions) and I went to the back of the room to watch the lads’ reaction.

REDKNAPP: I was at the Etihad for the Premier League season’s final day and had a front-row view of City’s comeback against Villa. How was it at Anfield?

MILNER: It was confusing. The cheers. The grumbles. We knew the odds were that City would win, but it felt worse looking at how the scoring went. Villa being 2-0 up with 15 minutes to go… that was worse than finding out they’d won 4-0. But that’s football. The Champions League final is not a bad game to bounce back with, is it?

REDKNAPP: Today’s Wednesday, your first day back at the training ground since Sunday. What’s the manager said to you all?

MILNER: We didn’t really talk about it and him not mentioning it is the mindset of everyone else here. It’s gone. It’s pointless to dwell on it. We knew it wasn’t in our hands so let’s control what we can control, like the Champions League.

It’s overcast as we sit outside Liverpool’s AXA training centre and the midfielder is wearing a James Milner Foundation wristband and Whoop fitness watch.

He’s generous with his time, giving Sportsmail an hour in his company. Sadio Mane walks by and tries to distract Milner. Jordan Henderson stops to say hello. As does Virgil van Dijk.

The conversation turns to May 26, 2018, the day of the Champions League final against Real Madrid, and a little-known story about Klopp. There was nervousness in the air and the Liverpool boss spoke to his players at their hotel in Kyiv, as Milner explains.

REDKNAPP: Describe Klopp in three words.

MILNER: (pauses) Genuine. Energetic. Fun. When he does his team talks, it’s not joke, joke, joke, but he’ll always try to soften them. Like the 2018 Champions League final. He was doing his usual pre-match meeting — talking about the game, the tactics, what we’re going to do, what they’ll do. But he knew there would be tension.

REDKNAPP: As there would be when you’re about to face a team including Cristiano Ronaldo in a final. What did he do?

MILNER: He had his Ronaldo boxers on.

REDKNAPP: (laughs) He whipped out his CR7-branded boxers?

MILNER: That was his way of trying to relax the boys. Around games, he’ll think, ‘What is the narrative?’ Like if something’s on the lads’ minds that they’ve seen on social media. He’s good at nipping things like that in the bud.

REDKNAPP: Obviously that 2018 final wasn’t your day, but I don’t think we can blame Klopp’s undies for that. There was that injury to Salah, and that wonder-goal by Bale. What do you recall?

MILNER: We went behind, then were level. We were flying around and our press was good. Then there’s this hopeful cross and (Gareth) Bale does what he does, out of nothing. He had no right. It was incredible and changed everything. Not enough gets said about that — it didn’t even get Champions League goal of the season.

REDKNAPP: Gutting. A few months after that 2018 final, we played in a charity match — a 3-3 thriller between Celtic and Liverpool. You should recall it — it was for the James Milner Foundation!

It was a great day, but what I remember most was Klopp coming into the dressing room to do our pre-match team talk. I couldn’t believe he rocked up.

MILNER: That’s why ‘genuine’ was the first word I used to describe him. It was the international break and he came all the way from Germany to Glasgow just for that charity game.

REDKNAPP: I was hanging on to his every word. We all see the fun side to him. But I bet there’s a side to Klopp that

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