ROBERTSON’S THE WINNER BY A MILE - AND A SMILE

EVERY time Andy Robertson passes Trent Alexander-Arnold, it takes just three simple words to rile the England defender. “By a mile.”

That’s it. That one sentence from Robertson to his great friend and fellow Liverpool fullback has the Scotsman creased in laughter – and his Anfield team-mate fuming.

The words were spoken by TV pundit and former defender

Gary Neville, who described the Scottish captain as the “best full-back in the Premier League, by a mile” when picking his team of the year. For Robertson (right), it was banter gold.

“Quite a few people sent me what Gary Neville had said – I enjoyed that, that’s for sure,” he said. “Yeah, Trent’s not too happy! I’ve used it on Trent for the last week, just saying ‘by a mile.’ 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 we have.”

The two are not only the best full-back pairing in world football, they are also the best of friends, with a shared sense of humour.

That shines through in their hilarious ‘Wingmen’ podcast, episodes of which see them driving around Liverpool chatting about anything and everything. The two have a friendly, fun rivalry, competing each season not only to score the most goals but also supply most assists… a contest which AlexanderArnold tends to win hands down. Robertson said: “Trent’s stats are always better than mine so I try and keep him away from reading them.

“Unfortunately he always knows the stats inside out.”

Robertson, who has redefined the left-back position, will be a major threat to Real Madrid in tonight’s final. But he claims he is not interested in reproducing the heroics of Alan Kennedy, the Liverpool left-back who scored the winner against Real in Paris in the 1981 European Cup final.

“As soon as we got to the final, people sent me the video of Alan Kennedy in Paris and said they were going to bet on a 1-0 win for Liverpool and me scoring,” he said.

“He scored a wonderful goal that managed to win Liverpool the trophy. If i do that, I do that.

“But I am more focused on trying to put in a good performance, and trying to be solid defensively.

“I will let someone else try and be the hero.”