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Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold: Champions League night made me a Reds fan

Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold has said he chose to play for the club because of his memories of attending the 2005 Champions League quarterfinal against Juventus at Anfield.

Alexander-Arnold grew up in the West Derby area of Liverpool and told the Telegraph that attending the Juventus game as a six-year-old had made a huge impression on him.

"It's the atmosphere, the special feeling around Anfield, one of those special European nights," the 19-year-old said.

"I was still at a young age and I did have a few Everton mates. I didn't have a set club, I was very neutral. I wasn't really focused on one club until that night against Juventus."

Alexander-Arnold, who made his first-team debut for Liverpool in 2016, looked ahead to the Champions League final and said he had "trained for 13 years for these moments."

Liverpool face Real Madrid in Kiev on Saturday and Alexander-Arnold said he was looking forward to the challenge of facing Cristiano Ronaldo.

"You prepare yourself for it without even knowing. I will keep working hard in the next few days to get better, to improve, to get to a new level.

"That is the main thing -- to keep striving, to focus on myself and make sure I get a good game. Then there is more chance of me not giving him [Ronaldo] too many chances to do what he does best."

Alexander-Arnold is part of England's World Cup squad and said confirmation of his place in Russia was the realisation of a long-held ambition.

"Every situation has been a goal and a dream so I have thought about it many times and nothing has really been a surprise," he said.

"Even though the timing has been a surprise -- I never felt, right now, I would be going to a World Cup -- I always dreamed I would be going at some point.

"I have thought things over in my mind millions of times growing up. Every situation that has happened I have imagined."