Milner’s harsh truth for Reds

THE equation is simple: Liverpool require a 1-0 win against Napoli to reach the Champions League knockout stage.

And in the blunt Yorkshire mindset of James Milner, the truth of the situation is even simpler; if they cannot do that on another special Anfield European night, they do not deserve to go through.

So much has been made of the Reds’ inadequacies on their travels this season – and rightly so after another shocking display in Paris, where they again failed to force a save from the opposition goalkeeper.

At home, though, it is a different proposition. They have not lost at Anfield in the Premier League under Jurgen Klopp since a 2-1 defeat by Crystal Palace in April 2017 and incredibly, he has never lost a European game at Anfield. With that in mind Milner said: “To have the last game at home, if you don’t get the win you don’t deserve to go through.

“Our aim is to get out of the group: get the result and get through. If we don’t do that we don’t deserve to be in the Champions League and we’ll take whatever happens from there – Europa League or whatever.”

Milner, left, knows full well the display in Paris was not good enough and asks some serious questions about the Reds. But he is still confident his side will answer those. He said: “I don’t think it has crossed anyone’s mind that we’ll end up in the Europa League, to be honest. It is in our hands and I don’t think you can ask for more.

“You don’t see any of the lads panicking, we are comfortable we can go and finish the job at home.”