It was only 12 months ago that Europa League football seemed unthinkable for Liverpool Football Club.
Preparing for their third European Cup final in the space of five seasons, the Reds were back in their natural habitat of the Champions League and looked unlikely to be leaving it any time soon.
They may have lost against Real Madrid in Paris but with the arrival of Darwin Nunez, a striker who'd scored six times in that season's Champions League and netted 34 goals overall for Benfica, Liverpool's place among Europe's elite looked secure.