Jurgen Klopp has taken Liverpool on quite the rise in recent years, turning the Reds into European, World and English champions, but things could have been different had he not guided them to a top four finish on the last day of the 2016/17 season.
Beating relegated Middlesbrough 3-0 at Anfield, in hindsight qualification was hardly in doubt. But it seems strange, given their recent success, the anxiety around whether they could actually finish in the top four.
They had competed in the Champions League just once since 2009 after all, and on that occasion suffered a group-stage exit, with the lack of elite European football inevitably costing them on the transfers front and in their quest for success.
