It isn’t why Liverpool’s last trip to Paris tends to be remembered, but it brought a minor slice of history for Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson. In the 21st century – and indeed, since the heyday of Paolo Maldini and Mauro Tassotti, the men on the sides of perhaps the most famous back four of all – only two full-back partnerships have started three Champions League finals together.
No prizes for guessing that the Real Madrid double act of Dani Carvajal and Marcelo were the first. The Liverpool duo are the second, which would have felt utterly improbable even a year before they lined up against Carvajal and Marcelo in Kyiv in 2018. Rewind to 2017 and Robertson was being relegated with Hull, Alexander-Arnold a veteran of just two Premier League starts.
