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Curtis Jones names his biggest Liverpool regret that Arne Slot knows how to fix

Curtis Jones poses with UEFA Champions League trophy with Liverpool teammate Alisson Becker
-Credit: (Image: (Photo by Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images))


Curtis Jones has opened up about his dream of winning the Champions League with Liverpool and revealed his ambition is fuelled by not receiving a medal for the club's 2019 triumph over Tottenham Hotspur in Madrid.

The Reds secured a sixth European crown in five years ago at Atletico Madrid's Wanda Metropolitano, with goals from Mohamed Salah and Divock Origi enough to defeat Mauricio Pochettino's side. The triumph came at a time when Jones, who made his debut in an FA Cup tie at Wolverhampton Wanderers earlier in the year, was trying to break into the Liverpool first-team.

Despite travelling with Jurgen Klopp's side to the previous year's final in Kyiv, the midfielder, 18 at the time, was unable to force his way into the match-day squad for that historic night in the Spanish capital as the likes of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Adam Lallana, Daniel Sturridge, Xherdan Shaqiri and Rhian Brewster were selected ahead of him. Consequently, Jones was not issued one of the 50 winners' medals Liverpool received from UEFA after the final whistle in Madrid.

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And the 23-year-old has admitted that the pain of missing out on such a historic memento is fuelling his drive to lead the Reds to a seventh European Cup success.

"One that always stuck in my mind for a long, long time was the Champions League. I was fortunate enough to be around the team [in 2019]. I was travelling to all the games and stuff, but I didn't get a medal because I wasn't in the squad," Jones told LFCTV.

"So that part of my career was hard at times but I was enjoying it because you train all week and at the end of the week you've got a game, so then you're excited.

"But I was training to then know I'm not in the squad, but I'll take it as 'experience' and I'm flying around. I'd like to be part of the team where I'm in the Champions League and I've played a big, big part and, hopefully, get my medal as well."

Jones was an unused substitute three years after that triumph in Madrid as Klopp's men lost the 2022 Champions League final to Real Madrid.

After being knocked out by the Spaniards at the round-of-16 stage in the following season before spending the 2023/24 campaign in the Europa League, Liverpool have made a strong return to Europe's premier competition this term and sit second in the 36-team table after wins against AC Milan, Bologna and RB Leipzig. This season's final will be held at Bayern Munich's Allianz Arena on May 31.