A week ago, Liverpool were chasing an unprecedented quadruple. Yet they ended the season having achieved a domestic cup double, matching the feat achieved by a relatively average Arsenal side in the 1992/93 season.
Does that count as a failure for Jurgen Klopp’s side?
To begin with the Premier League first, they finished with 92 points in all, missing out on the title by a solitary point. In most other seasons that would have seen them crowned champions by a considerable margin. Unfortunately, they had to contend with a Manchester City side that managed to accumulate just one more point over 38 games.
The standards of the two this season were so high that few other teams in world football could have lived with them over a nine-month league campaign.
Then, in the Champions League final on Saturday night, they were arguably the better team against Real Madrid, especially in the first half which they largely dominated. Only an inspired performance by Real goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, who felt he had a point to prove against English teams after his ignominious departure from Chelsea, kept them at bay.
On another night, Jurgen Klopp’s side would have been several goals to the good, before the strike from Vinicius Junior that ultimately decided the tie (a goal that also feeds into the narrative questioning Trent Alexander-Arnold’s defensive abilities).
That was just Liverpool’s fourth defeat of the season on all competitions. In the end, football is a game of fine margins, which decided Liverpool’s fate this season.
Fans of Chelsea would rightly point to the fact that both the League and FA Cup Finals went against their side in the penalty shoot-outs. One more league win and a goalkeeper in less than stellar form, and the champagne would have been flowing on Merseyside for months. As it is, the team will take an open-top bus ride through the streets of the city to celebrate their season: few can argue they deserve that at least.