On the losing end – Reds out of Europe

Jonathon Reid @mrjbladeNow our luck may have died and our love may be coldBut with you forever I’ll stayWe’re goin’ out where the sands turnin’ to gold nowThe difference is the goalkeepers. A tale as old as time, certainly in recent years around this club. I don’t want this to be about Adrian, he’s done more than enough this season and to secure his Liverpool legacy. In truth, Liverpool were the better team. No bitterness – the collective sigh of relief was palpable from their bench, fans and half of Europe at full-time. The Reds just run out of road and for that Atleti deserve full credit. Sometimes you have debts that even honesty just can’t pay.It’s a worrying trend in recent times, but one that’s entirely understandable. It seems bizarre to describe this team as one in transition given its recent exploits, but it is in truth. You can’t expect even the best athletes to perform at the peak over ten months, let alone close to three years. Injuries are one excuse yes, Fabinho in particular has been poor of late, but so too is the integration of players. We’d love to see more of Minamino, but that’s not how the system works. The manager demands full understanding from all his players, and that takes time. Liverpool ultimately will be stronger for this, us too as fans, it’s all a learning curve.It seems wrong to underscore the negatives of a season that feels like it has unravelled rapidly, but which still could end – comets and mass extinction allowing – with the Reds as the best team of the country. In truth, everyone already knows they are. Even on off days they’re ahead of City at present, and no one else comes within touching distance. Now isn’t a time for heads to sink, but to stay ahead of the curve and focus on consolidating what has been achieved by the manager and his staff over an incredible three-year period.

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Football ultimately is apocryphal. Time is measured in games, by catharsis. Forget endgame, the league season is a 38-game saga; 38 slices of life that are marked by their stories, Europe by contrast is a game of moments, sliding doors. The team can be in no doubt of their own quality and tonight can only be a shock to the system that keeps them grounded and keeps them hungry.What is important is the team’s focus and wedding that to the games in front of them. We’ll only see how they and the manager react in how the season plays out. Whether he looks to blood some youngsters or to work out new tactical wrinkles, something will have to change to keep everyone involved in the project between now and May. Again, this isn’t a negative, we have set the benchmark and given ourselves this room through consistency, now is the time to make sure the hard work from those foundations pays off.You can only be on the up for so long and yet, looking around Europe, it’s clear Liverpool have stolen a march on so many of their rivals and are still in the peak part of their cycle when most other teams require a rebuild. Tonight will hurt, but it shouldn’t live long in the memory beyond fuelling where we go next. The wheel just keeps turning, we lick our wounds, we go again.I hope Madrid go on and win it. I really hope they do; better them than a Real or a PSG or a City. I hope they win it, but I hope they know we’re coming for them. We’re coming for all of them.Everything dies baby that’s a factBut maybe everything that dies someday comes backUp the RedsJonathon Reid @mrjblade