The pressure is on as Jurgen Klopp bounds into a gym at Liverpool’s training ground. He’s spent the previous two hours doing 11 different interviews, plus a press conference, and his expectations for this last gathering are not high.
‘If you ask a question that I’ve already been asked, I’m leaving!’ he warns, mischievously. When he realises it’s Sportsmail first, he spins as if to leave and roars with laughter.
The place to begin is the morning after Liverpool had lost to Real in the 2018 final. Klopp was at a low ebb but, with his inhibitions loosened by beer, an impromptu singsong took place in his house and it ended with him going viral online.