James Milner stays true to his word by celebrating with a bottle Ribena 

James Milner proved he is true to his word on Thursday as he celebrated Liverpool qualifying for the Champions League final by drinking Ribena.

Milner was asked following Liverpool’s 7-6 aggregate victory over Roma whether he would be celebrating with a bottle of Italian red wine.

The 32-year-old, who has been teetotal his entire life, replied: ‘Maybe for a few of the boys, and I might stretch myself out for some Ribena or something.’ 

Milner joked he would celebrate reaching the Champions League final with a bottle of Ribena

Milner backed up his answer with proof on Thursday after the Liverpool squad flew back to Merseyside from Rome.

Stephen Warnock, a former Liverpool player and close friend of the midfielder’s, tweeted a picture of the pair with Milner holding a bottle of the soft drink.

Warnock wrote: ‘A heavy night on the @RibenaUK with @JamesMilner tonight celebrating his win last night! #stretchmyselfoutforaribena #ribena #milner #championsleague #lfc.’

Milner’s Liverpool side beat Roma 7-6 on aggregate to reach the showpiece in Kiev

Milner came close to having a night to forget when he scored an own goal after Dejan Lovren’s clearance rebounded off him and into the Liverpool net.

It cancelled out Sadio Mane’s opener, although Georginio Wijnaldum struck to leave Roma needing four goals to force extra time.

They could only manage three, with Edin Dzeko scoring in the second half and Radja Nainggolan adding two late strikes, one a 93rd minute penalty.

It is the first time Liverpool have reached the Champions League final since 2007

Milner said: ‘It was all about getting the job done, and we managed to do that no matter how difficult we made it.

‘Obviously we’re through to the final now and we’ve got to enjoy it, but not for too long because we’ve got another big game at the weekend.’