With the do-or-die Champions League final coming up against Real Madrid, suffice to say tensions are escalating among the Liverpool fans. This marks an important event for us and our primary focus must be on winning the glittering trophy to end the season with a bang.

In such times, rivalries often flare up between the two camps but we must all take a leaf out of Dejan Lovren’s book. The player recently displayed an admirable sense of sportsmanship as he revealed that he had contacted fellow Croatia teammates Mateo Kovacic and Luka Modric to congratulate them for reaching the final.

Kovacic and Modric are both key parts of the current Real team, who will be looking to decimate us at all costs. But it is heart-warming to see Lovren extend a branch of friendship at a time like this.

He revealed as much in a recent interview with Liverpool FC magazine and as quoted by Liverpool Echo, Lovren said:

“I have been in touch with my Croatian international team-mates Luka Modric and Mateo Kovacic, who play for Real Madrid.

“It’s quite an amazing achievement for such a small country of not even four million people that almost every year we have a Croatian international player who can win the final. It’s great for us and for the nation.”

However, Lovren added a cheeky flavour to the statement by claiming that a majority of the Croatian supporters will root for Liverpool since Modric and Kovacic have lifted the trophy a couple of times with Real already.

Despite struggling in the initial stages of the season, Lovren has improved by leaps and bounds. Joel Matip’s injury pushed him into a starting role alongside Virgil van Dijk towards the second half of the Premier League season and Lovren has undeniably shown encouraging signs.

After being harshly criticised for a lot of his shortcomings, it is great to watch him do well for himself. It remains to be seen if Jurgen Klopp hands him a start for the colossal Champions League final but if that happens, let’s hope Lovren puts in a performance worth remembering.