Henderson story needs happy end

JORDAN Henderson has had little to shout about and much to regret with regard to the business end of the season in his Liverpool career to date.

In 2014, when Liverpool’s title charge went up in smoke against Chelsea and Crystal Palace, he sat on the sidelines suspended after a straight red for a rash challenge on Samir Nasri five games from the end.

In 2016, when Jurgen Klopp led them to the Europa League final in his first season, Henderson was recovering from knee ligament trouble and sat watching from the bench as the Reds were beaten by Sevilla.

Even last year, as Liverpool booked Champions League football, he was absent with a foot injury sustained in February.

This season has been different, as they have charged to the final of Europe’s elite competition led, pretty much all of the way, by Henderson.

And while the Liverpool captain might be wise not to take too many risks between now and Saturday night, this season could end with him lifting the Champions League trophy.

“I’m just trying to keep things as normal as possible,” he said. “Just do what we’ve done throughout.

“The semi-finals were a huge moment for us. It was a massive game – to get to the final.

“When you’re in the final, you’ve got to do the same things and just focus on the game rather than everything else around it like lifting the trophy or looking at the past winners.

“The important thing is doing your job.”

Henderson has done a superb one for Liverpool this season.

It has been a campaign in which he says he has been in the best form and fitness of his career, but capping it off with anything less than a win on Saturday will be just more disappointment.

“When you’ve ‘played’ in a final and it doesn’t go your way it certainly gives you the motivation to put that right straight away,” he said of the 3-1 defeat by Sevilla in Basle.

“I didn’t come on and couldn’t help. After, in the team hotel, it was the worst feeling ever. It hurt so much that you wanted to go home and switch off for a few days. And that feeling does stay with you.”

Henderson still remembers the way Klopp dealt with deflated players.

“We were obviously down but when we got back to the hotel, the manager had something different to say,” said Henderson.

“He reminded us that he was still proud that we got to the final, reminding us of how much we’d improved since we came in.

“And he had this sort of vision that made me think we’d get to another final. The manager was confident and wanted to use the experience of that final to keep us together and use it as a positive going forward.”

He had this sort of vision