Andy Robertson is asked about the toll of Liverpool's long season: "We are in the best possible shape. Yes, we have had injuries and problems but the lads are fully fit and full of confidence."

Trent Alexander-Arnold is asked if they treat this like just another big game: "You can try your best to say it's another big game but everything around it, it's something we don't do regularly.

"I think we embrace these occasions. These are the ones in your mind when you're working hard behind the scenes.

"We deserve to be here."

Andy Robertson is asked about replicating Alan Kennedy's 1981 heroics. The flying full-back got the winner against Real Madrid back then, and Robertson said: "We've got a world-class opponent against us like Trent says. I've not thought about repeating Alan Kennedy. If I score, so be it."

And on losing the 2018 final to Real Madrid: "We put that wrong right for ourselves in Madrid the following season.

"That was us getting revenge on the competition as such and becoming winners for the first time. It's long in the past."

Trent Alexander-Arnold speaks first and talks about how big it is for him to be in another Champions League final: "To even be in with a chance of a second Champions League title at this age is special for me.

"There's been many legends of the game who haven't had this opportunity. It's a privilege but we have a world-class opponent in front of us."

Right, back to Paris where Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold have walked in for the Liverpool news conference.

The season isn't quite over yet for Liverpool's players but it is for others and they are off enjoying a well deserved break.

Chelsea's Mason Mount and Manchester City's Phil Foden are knocking about in Monaco this weekend for the F1.

A very appropriate chequered flag shirt there for Mount.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Andy Robertson says he has taken his friendly rivalry with team-mate TrentAlexander-Arnold to a new level after Gary Neville labelled the Scotland captain "the best full-back in the league by a mile".

Neville was assessing the quality of the Premier League's wide defenders for Sky Sports last week when he said Liverpool's left-back ranked top among them all.

"Yeah, he's not too happy," said Robertson. "He gets enough praise probably. I've used it with Trent for the last week, by saying 'By a mile' and things like that.

"I just keep saying it to him. I walk past and that's all I need to say. He knows exactly what I'm talking about because I know he watched it. That's the relationship me and him have."

Before Sunday's Championship play off final, Wembley hosts the League Two play off final on Saturday.

That sees Mansfield take on Port Vale for a place in League One.

"It's going to be an amazing experience," Mansfield Town forward Rhys Oates

"I've never played at Wembley so it's every kid's dream. The end goal is to get promoted and that's what we want."

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Sadio Mane has said he will talk about his contract situation after the Champions League final.

According to L'Equipe, external it could well be his final game for the Reds with the newspaper reporting that he is of interest to Bayern Munich.

Phil McNulty
BBC Sport chief football writer in Paris

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is out on the pitch at Stade de France with his squad and is taking a special interest in the new pitch that has been laid for the game.

It's getting a close inspection from Klopp and his assistant Pep Lijnders. It will be intriguing to see how it plays.

Image source, Getty Images

We'll hear from Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp and players Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson from around 15:45 BST this afternoon.

Image source, PA Media

From rock bottom of the table, having endured their worst start to a season for 108 years, to the cusp of the the most seemingly unlikely Premier League promotion tilt in history - Nottingham Forest have added to the definition of 'a football miracle'.

The Reds spent 46 of the first 52 days of the Championship campaign in the relegation places.

Chris Hughton - a manager with proven promotion pedigree, having led Newcastle, Norwich and Brighton to the top flight - paid for the woeful start with his job.

Enter head coach Steve Cooper in mid-September. From that moment on, Forest were a club transformed.

Read about how they went from relegation zone to play offs here.

Image source, Getty Images

The Champions League final is of course not the only final taking place this weekend with Huddersfield and Nottingham Forest contesting the Championship play off final.

Terriers boss Carlos Corberan has taken a side that was tipped heavily for relegation to League One to a third-place finish and just one game away from a return to the Premier League.

Corberan says former Leeds United boss Marcelo Bielsa has been a confidant in the build-up to Sunday's game.

"I have spoken to him a lot, we spoke in the last week, we spent a good time talking," he said. "He is someone who always gave me the best support, and since I began managing Huddersfield he has been giving me a lot."

Alan Shearer
Former England striker on BBC Radio 5 Live

Not very good news for defenders but great news for Liverpool fans that it looks like Sadio Mane might be signing a new contract and Mohamed Salah has also said he will be playing in a red shirt next season.

Great news for their manager too because they are and have been two outstanding players.

But you never know, you would think if it was good news that Mane might want to say that before the final. It wouldn't surprise me if one stayed and the other left in 12 months time but there is a lot of football to be played before then.

To win all three cup competitions, what a season that would be. To be even spoken up about as the greatest Liverpool side ever is one thing - when I was growing up it was Graeme Souness, Bruce Grobbelaar, Alan Hanson, Kenny Dalglish - so to be even spoken about in the same breath as those tells you that they're onto something special.

George Baldock has earned an international call up with.....Greece.

The Buckingham-born defender is of Greek descent through his grandmother so is eligible to play for Greece (yes I did find that from Wikipedia).

John Gibbons from the Anfield Wrap podcast speaking to Radio 5 Live:

"It's fantastic to be in another European Cup final - this is the third that Jurgen Klopp has brought us to and we're very grateful for that. We can't get enough of Klopp at the moment, he's the man who has brought us all our dreams and more.

"The biggest thing that has happened this season is him signing that four year deal because it almost guarantees more wonderful nights like the one we're going to have tomorrow.

"Hopefully it'll be a seventh European Cup tomorrow night."

It's not all about the Champions League final of course, the transfer rumour mill is cranking into gear which means today's gossip column is bulging. Here are some of the best bits:

Manchester United have told Barcelona and Netherlands midfielder Frenkie de Jong, 25, they will turn their attention elsewhere if he cannot decide whether he wants to come to Old Trafford this summer. (Sport - in Spanish), external

Monaco midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni's proposed move to Real Madrid has been held up due to a tax issue. The La Liga champions are prepared to pay around 80m euros (£68m) for the 22-year-old French international. (ESPN), external

Manchester United,Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea are all keen on Tchouameni and will be ready to step in if his transfer to Madrid does not materialise. (Sun), external

AC Milan want to tie Portugal forward Rafael Leao, 22, down to a new deal to rebuff interest from Real Madrid. The Spanish side are looking for a forward after French international Kylian Mbappe, 23, pledged his future to Paris St-Germain. (La Gazzetta dello Sport - in Italian), external

Find those rumours and more in today's gossip column.

Image source, Getty Images

Alan Shearer
Former England striker on BBC Radio 5 Live

Image source, Getty Images

Jurgen Klopp is more than a football manager - he's an incredible person - the way he extracts every ounce of ability out of his football club and every single player that he has. They all seem to respect him and really like him - he's created such a wonderful atmosphere in that dressing room and that's why they're as successful as they are. You can't get anywhere unless you have a great leader and a team behind you who are prepared to work and fight and scrap.

I don't care who you are or how much experience you have it is still stressful - but Klopp doesn't show it, he's clever, he's articulate and he's to the point. He knows how to press people's buttons and he gets what it is all about. He has got a really experienced team - there are a lot of players who won the trophy in 2019 still in the team and he has built that. It all comes from him - because of his energy, his know-how and is ability to understand a group of players.

It's not very easy when you've got a group of players who want to play every single week and he's got to leave players out. How does he still keep that great atmosphere and harmony that they have in the dressing room? That's one of the brilliant things he has done for years now.

The Real players wore shirts with "A por la 14" on the back after their win over Manchester City. It roughly translates as "all out for 14" as they chase a 14th Champions League title.

They did something similar after beating Bayern Munich in the 2018 semi-final.

Image source, Getty Images