First of all, actually it's a question to you both, I just wonder,
before we talk about the final, what you've made of Trent Alexander-Arnold's call-up
to the England World Cup squad,
and just how he's developed, how good has he been this season for you guys?
First of all, I want to congratulate him in front of you.
I did it already when I heard the news and I’m really quite happy for him.
Quite a brilliant lad and an even better player, I would say.
He deserves it, he had a brilliant season from the beginning, from day one.
He's shown he is really mature for his age.
To be honest, for me, he looks 14 or 15, not like a 19-year-old!
But, how he plays, he doesn’t look 19,
he looks, with his experience, that he has played a couple of years here with us.
Hopefully he will stay for a long time here.
Sadio?
Everybody is happy for him. We’ve all congratulated him.
He is young, and he is working hard all the time in training and doing very well.
He has had a great season,
and honestly, I think he deserves to be in this World Cup.
Again, to you both, what does it mean to be going to a Champions League final now?
I would say it's a dream come true for everyone, for the players,
and from my personal view, I always dreamed to be in the Champions League,
and of course I dreamed of one day lifting the trophy.
Now we have the biggest chance of our lives, for some of us maybe it’s the only one.
For some of us there will be many more hopefully
but we need to be proud of ourselves, we did a great job from the beginning.
When you look back, to the play-off against Hoffenheim,
when you look altogether at this road,
we really deserve to be in the final.
Hopefully, in many years from now we can say to our kids and family
that we did our best and that we won the trophy.
We have nothing to lose, we will give our best in the final and everyone is fit and ready.
And we just can’t wait to start.
Sadio.
Like Dejan says, it's a dream come true.
It was not easy, if you see, from the play-off against Hoffenheim and also the group stage,
now we are in the final, it's maybe a surprise for many people.
But for us, it's something we have always been believing in,
and as a team we pushed together and suffered together,
and today we are in the final. So we're going to go there, try to do our best like always
and why not win the trophy?
Dejan, what have you had to say to Modric and Kovacic ahead of this game,
should they maybe fear your front three this weekend?
Do you mean did I talk to them or...?
Yeah.
Have you spoken to them, what have you had to say to them
and have you warned them about your front three,
and should they fear your front three?
We were talking before the semi-finals, before the draw,
and I said, "You guys, I want to catch you for the final."
And they said, "OK, we are ready for you!"
So I said, "Let’s see what will happen", and now we are in the final.
For them, they've already been three times a row in the final,
they are used to it, but again, they are also a really competitive team
who want to achieve something impossible.
For them, they already made history but they can beat it.
For us, also we have something to catch,
I would say for the whole squad it's the first time in the final of the Champions League.
We know what we are playing for, we know how hard it was in pre-season.
It will be a great final to enjoy,
we need to enjoy every minute on the pitch
and hopefully we can go with a smile at the end.
Sadio, why does it work so well
between the front three of yourself, Mo Salah and Roberto Firmino?
No, like I always said, I've always enjoyed playing alongside these great players.
They make everything easier for me.
We always talk about the front three, but we forget the ball starts from the guys behind...
DEJAN: Thank you, thank you.
They make it easier, so I think the power of Liverpool Football Club is the collective,
and we always do everything together, I think this is our power.
19 goals for you this season, are you in peak form, do you feel?
I think more goals coming!
Of course, I am happy.
Especially as a striker, you’d love to score every single game
to help your team. Now we have one more important game, so why not try to do our best,
score for the team and win the trophy?
One final thing for you both from me - if Liverpool are to win a sixth European Cup
this weekend, do you think that would also guarantee the Ballon d'Or for Mo Salah?
SADIO: You say.
- Oh, I will... - Yeah, come on!
Of course I spoke to Mo about that, it's still at quite an early stage,
but if we win that, definitely he's one of the contenders.
He can be in the top three, the best players in the world,
he has the quality, he has this world-class experience already,
and he is still calm, a man that's down to earth,
and he deserves every credit, every goal that he's scored for now,
and definitely we will help him to achieve this dream for himself personally.
Best player in the world at the moment then, for you?
Definitely, when you score 34 in the Premier League and...
44 in total.
44, you know, definitely, when you look - Messi, Ronaldo, it's Mo Salah,
he deserves to be in the top three.
Question for Dejan. Can you just talk about the impact that Virgil's had,
and also the effect he's had on you, what effect he's had on you on a personal level?
I said many times, it's always good to receive quality,
and Virgil definitely has the quality, he helped the team to improve defensively,
and also to bring this calmness into the team,
and I feel also personally...
..much more confident, when you know you have a really good partner beside you,
and he showed already at Southampton
that he's one of the best defenders in the Premier League.
It's great that we didn't take too much time to connect with each other in the game,
usually it takes more, but like I said, when you have the quality,
you show the quality the next day and you feel it in the team,
and that's also how I feel. We had quite good games this season, yeah.
For both of you - Real Madrid have won two in a row
and are in a third final, and they're the bookies' favourites,
is that something good or bad for Liverpool, the fact that Real Madrid come as favourites?
Can you say again, please?
LAUGHTER
..do you think this is positive for Liverpool, the fact Madrid has the pressure to win it?
Honestly, I don't know for them,
but for us it’s one of the most important games in our careers.
Of course, it won’t be easy because we know they have experience
and also they have quality in the team. We respect them a lot,
but we also have the players and the staff to beat any team in the world.
We are going to go there and try to do our best,
and cause them the most problems we can and try to win the game.
Dejan, one of those three players you mentioned
is gonna be right up against you on Saturday, Ronaldo obviously,
what's the keys to limiting his effectiveness?
Cos he always seems to find a way in these games to be the decisive man.
Ronaldo, Salah, Messi, you need to respect these players a lot.
For 12, 15 years, every year he scores more than 30 goals,
even if he has a bad season he scores 30 goals,
so, of course, you need to pay attention to that.
But we play, in the Premier League,
against some of the best strikers in the world.
We know how to defend like a team.
When you want to stop Ronaldo, we will stop him together.
Of course, in some parts of the game
it will be one against one and it will be tough,
but it’s a challenge that I’m ready for.
I’ve been working so hard to come into the final of the Champions League
and I’m ready for everything.
What is more important for you, we are just round the corner from the World Cup,
winning the Champions League or maybe winning the World Cup?
LAUGHTER
You want to go?
Of course we want to win both.
LAUGHTER
But what's the best, to name one?
No, if the World Cup was next week, then it's the World Cup,
now, at the weekend it's the Champions League,
so we are really focused now just on the Champions League.
We have so many games to go till the World Cup,
so it's not really the time to talk about it.
Yeah, just a question leading off that, about the World Cup, for Sadio.
How do you think Senegal will do in Russia,
are you confident of getting out of the group stages?
Yeah, of course, I know we have a tough group...
DEJAN: YOU have a tough group? What should I say?!
Yeah, like I always said, you have to believe in yourself and what you're doing.
And try to do the job together, and hopefully we're gonna qualify!
Do you feel the pressure of being Senegal's main man?
Honestly, personally I don't know the word "pressure" all the time,
because it's my job and I always enjoy it,
I think it's not important to put yourself under pressure.
The main man, I think, is always the team,
the collective is the most important and makes us really good.
Any final questions?
Dejan, Liverpool fans have travelled far and wide all over Europe,
they're spending hundreds, thousands of pounds to get to this final,
do you have a message for the fans travelling to Kiev?
Yeah, if you don't have a ticket, don't go(!)
No, it's brilliant to see how many fans are supporting us,
and it's brilliant to see the red shirts around the stadium.
I wish I could give everyone a ticket but it's really not possible,
but I know people will really support us here in Liverpool, around the world,
in every stadium and on every corner,
and we know that they're behind us, and like I said many times, they're our 12th man.
On the pitch or off it.