As soon as referee Damir Skomina blew the full-time whistle, James Milner fell to the Stadio Olimpico turf with his hands over his face.The 32-year-old looked overwhelmed - and exhausted - after reaching his first ever Champions League final.Milner, who joined the Reds from Manchester City back in 2015, also presumably felt a sense of relief that his first-half own goal didn’t cost his team on the night.The former England international’s own goal cancelled out Sadio Mane’s opener, but Georginio Wijnaldum’s 25th-minute header restored Liverpool’s one-goal lead and left Roma needing four more goals to force extra-time.They scored three - courtesy of Edin Dzeko and a Radja Nainggolan brace - but that wasn’t enough to prevent Liverpool from winning the tie 7-6 on aggregate.After the match, Milner further endeared himself to the Liverpool faithful - and football fans in general, really - by telling BT Sport he might celebrate reaching the final with a glass of Ribena.He also posted a very funny tweet about his own goal, which quickly went viral.

Lampard was spot on about Milner

Milner, who joined Twitter in March, has been keen to play up to his ‘boring’ reputation with a series of tongue-in-cheek tweets. He possesses a dry sense of humour that you rarely see from footballers - and that’s one of the reasons his popularity is soaring.

Chelsea legend Frank Lampard then hit the nail on the head while talking about Milner on BT Sport after the match.

He said: “James Milner… the hard work he’s done in his career. To be called boring… he’s boring because he’s trained all the hours more than anyone, all the gym work, the preparation, all those things come together for these moments.”

Well said, Frank. (Skip to 1:10 in the video below).

Milner has made the most of his talent

It’s Milner’s exemplary professionalism which has allowed him to enjoy these moments. He’s made the most of his talent through sheer hard work.

While some of the players he’s played with during his career were undoubtedly more talented, few players could match his work ethic - both in matches and on the training ground.

Milner is worth his weight in gold to Jurgen Klopp, who knows he can use the versatile midfielder in any position - or even leave him out of the starting line-up if necessary - and he won’t complain.

He’ll simply get on with his job, as he always has done.

Liverpool are lucky to have him and it's such a shame for England boss Gareth Southgate that he won't come out of retirement for this summer's World Cup finals in Russia.

How important is James Milner in this current Liverpool side? Have your say by leaving a comment below.