The scene, in those final rain-sodden moments, was depressingly familiar. Swathes of empty red seats, a line of supporters trudging solemnly to the exits and a group of players, many with hands on hips, looking like it was all too much.
A 17th defeat for Liverpool, a statistic that has only stoked the coals for those with an insatiable appetite for managerial change. It’s a preposterously high number, a stain on this squad’s ability, and it was inevitable that it led to a line of questioning.
This time, however, the questions were different. Here was the first: judged on what Liverpool demonstrated in the opening 72 minutes against Paris St-Germain, Europe’s finest troupe, how are they the only team to have failed to beat Tottenham in their last eight domestic matches?
And here’s another: given what was on show during a frenzied spell before half-time, when the great Brazil defender Marquinhos flung himself in front of Virgil van Dijk to stop a certain goal and haul PSG off the ropes, how did Liverpool allow themselves to submerge away at Wolves?
Neither of those results should have happened. Nor should they have lost to Brighton, been pummelled at home by Nottingham Forest, slipped up at Bournemouth or failed to beat Leeds and Burnley at Anfield. When you look through Liverpool’s results, all you can see are acts of vandalism.
All this was in your mind before PSG arrived. Luis Enrique’s team had humiliated Liverpool in Paris, in the same way Manchester City had hung, drawn and quartered them in the FA Cup and they were likely to do more of the same.
Nobody really believed the 10th anniversary of a remarkable comeback against Borussia Dortmund would be celebrated with another of those famous nights; there was never any real momentum of Liverpool doing to PSG what they did to Barcelona in 2019.
But then the game started. Liverpool’s press was intense, their passes were delivered with zip and, occasionally, they extricated themselves from tight situations with one-touch panache and the kind of dexterity that only top performers could do.
Why, then, haven’t they been able to do it weekly? It can’t be down to a shortage of talent – Enrique was hopping around with increased animation and panic as Liverpool carved out opportunities but failed to convert them.
If a manager of Enrique’s class and pedigree can have his nerves shredded, how did Scott Parker find it all so comfortable when he stood in the same technical area? It makes no sense. Everyone has an opinion on what has gone wrong – and who is to blame – but is it something as simple as attitude?
“I have to give a lot of credit to the players how hard they worked and a lot of credit to the fans,” said Arne Slot. “We made a lot of progress from last week. If we have a high press, we can keep it going for so much longer when the atmosphere is like this.
“But it is one of the many examples this season where we were not able to score from one of the many chances we had, we were so far underperforming from xG. Add to that it seems to be a bad injury [Hugo Ekitike] and add to that another intervention of the VAR that doesn’t go in our favour.
“That, by the way, is not the first time in our season. But the future looks very bright for our club. We have shown that we can compete with the champions of Europe. Not many teams can dominate against PSG the way that we did.”
True, but not many – if any – of Europe’s elite take false steps when they are expected to stride forward purposefully. PSG don’t slip up against Le Havre or Strasbourg or Rennes. They take care of the simple things as and when they should.
There were points as Liverpool chased, before the outstanding Ousmane Dembélé punctured the atmosphere, when you looked and thought they might win four or five of their final six Premier League games. But would you trust them to do it? No chance.
Trust is hard-earned. Liverpool, starting when they cross town on Sunday to face Everton, have questions about their attitude. How they answer them will determine how the summer plays out.