The long wait to be champions: Tales of Liverpool's title near-misses
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| Anfield gate with 'YOU'LL NEVER WALK ALONE' written on top of it - Getty |
With two games to go, a first league title since 1990 still lies tantalisingly within reach for Liverpool - but will their story have a happy ending this time?
Being brutally honest, there are not many tales of Reds' title challenges to tell from the past 29 years and no spoilers are needed for you to know that they all ended in tears.
Since they were last crowned champions, for a then-record 18th time, Liverpool have managed serious bids in only six seasons - including this one - and been in the race on the final day only once, in 2013-14.
From mind games and meltdowns to fumbled crosses and famous slips, there are multiple reasons, theories or excuses for why they fell short each time - including a manager exit, a manager illness, and at least one manager making some extremely ill-advised claims.
| Their fans, some of who were singing 'we're going to win the league' with three games remaining in 2014, have still had success to cheer with a Champions League victory to add to one Uefa Cup, two FA Cups, and three League Cup wins in the Premier League era.
But the league title is the one they all continue to covet and "next year is going to be our year" has been the May mantra of many an Anfield fan during the past three decades. But it has also become a way of mocking the Merseysiders because every previous title challenge has been followed immediately by a campaign where they did not even come remotely close.
BBC Sport speaks to some of the players and managers involved in those near-misses to find out what actually did go wrong, and why Jurgen Klopp's team might be different - even if that is only in the way they respond if the title also eludes them.
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Try to imagine where Liverpool would be now if Jurgen Klopp had left with three months of the season to go, and you will get an idea of what happened to their title defence when Kenny Dalglish sensationally quit as manager on 22 February 1991.
The Reds were three points clear at the top of the table when, two days after a pulsating 4-4 FA Cup draw with Everton, Dalglish stunned the football world by announcing he was leaving the club he had served as player and manager for 14 trophy-laden years.
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Liverpool secured their first top-two finish since 1991, despite being mostly without their manager. Gerard Houllier was absent for five months of the season after he fell seriously ill in October 2001.
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