Another Champions League final defeat against Real Madrid with the performance of a goalkeeper integral to the outcome. Four years may have separated the two reverses, but for Liverpool there was a certain sense of deja vu after their attempt to claim a seventh European Cup ended in familiar heartbreak.
Jurgen Klopp, though, knows matters aren’t quite the same.
“The difference between 2018 and now is that I see us coming again,” he said shortly after his team’s 1-0 reverse in Paris on Saturday night. “In 2018 I wished it but I couldn’t know. But these boys are really competitive, they have an incredible attitude, it’s a fantastic group and we will go again definitely.”
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Of course, with Liverpool going one better the following season and beating Tottenham Hotspur in Madrid, Klopp would readily accept a repeat of one aspect. “Where is it next year? Istanbul?” said the Reds boss. when asked about the 2023 final. “Book the hotel.”
But it’s what happened in the immediate aftermath of the chastening experience in Kyiv that won’t be seen – certainly to the same extent – over the coming months.
Barely 48 hours after the final whistle, Liverpool had addressed the midfield shortcomings that had become clear during their Champions League run, Fabinho’s surprise arrival from Monaco a welcome fillip after demoralising events at the NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium. Naby Keita, in a deal agreed 12 months previous, was already on his way.
The personal nightmare of Loris Karius finally persuaded Klopp to properly address the goalkeeping situation, paying big money to take Alisson Becker from Roma. Throw in Xherdan Shaqiri and the forward planning of Harvey Elliott’s signature, and the summer of 2018 continues to be perhaps the most pivotal transfer window of Klopp’s tenure, more than £180million spent. That the Reds have subsequently won every major trophy possible is no coincidence.
If not exactly a full overhaul, it was without doubt a significant rebuild with notable upgrades. Liverpool, though, don’t require that at present given the outstanding campaign that brought them the FA Cup and League Cup and took them within a whisker of adding the Premier League and Champions League.
Sure, tinkering will be needed. Some players will leave, with Divock Origi’s departure already confirmed, James Milner approaching the end of his contract, and the likes of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Takumi Minamino sure to attract interest from elsewhere.
But the evolution – or “transformation” as Klopp termed it last week – is already taking place. Luis Diaz, earmarked for the summer, was brought in during January in what proved a prescient move, while highly-rated teenager Fabio Carvalho will arrive from Fulham at the start of July.
Klopp is mindful of the age of his midfield with the recruitment team keeping tabs on a number of potential targets, although it may not be until next year Liverpool make a concerted effort to reinforce the engine room. That could be brought forward depending on departures.
Younger – and, perhaps as importantly, homegrown talent given the required quota – will be encouraged, Elliott and Curtis Jones poised to be given further chances in the next season.
Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino have both declared their desire to remain at Liverpool beyond the summer, even if their long-term futures are still to be resolved with the pair among several players about to enter the final 12 months of their current deals.
Matters aren’t quite so straightforward regards Sadio Mane, however. While Liverpool haven’t been told the player wants to leave and haven't received any offer, talk of an exit continues to grow louder with Bayern Munich known admirers of the Senegalese, another who has little over a year on his Anfield contract.
Intriguingly, the Reds would want a replacement lined up first before permitting any Mane departure, seemingly ending suggestions Diaz was the intended successor for the forward. Liverpool have learned from the second half of this season the value of strength in depth up front.
But whether a possible incoming is more a central forward in the Origi mould than a winger like Mane will be an interesting call. After all, with Diaz and Diogo Jota, Klopp is hardly short of options on the left flank.
While Saturday evening was disappointing for a number of reasons, it didn’t expose any great flaw in the squad or Liverpool’s masterplan. Easy to forget they lost only four out of 63 games this season.
Yes, there is always room for improvement, always the need to rejuvenate the squad and introduce new faces, new ideas, even if only small margins saw them denied by both City and Real.
But there is no reason for Liverpool to stop trusting the process. The evolution continues.
