Liverpool title wait may continue but Barcelona and history show there are brighter days ahead

One dream victory down, another one to go?

Having just witnessed the epic humiliation of Barcelona, Liverpool fans will now believe anything is possible. And who can blame them? So here's the ideal way for their Homeric Premier League campaign to pan out.

As the clocks at Anfield and the Amex tick past the 90 on Sunday afternoon, Brighton captain Bruno rakes a Kompanyesque equaliser into the top corner of Manchester City's goal from 30 yards. Then at Anfield, Fabinho notches a last-second winner against Wolves and wheels away towards the Kop, the last syllable of his name giving Sky yodeller-in-chief Martin Tyler plenty to work with, an ersatz reprise of that famous Sergio Aguero ululation all those years ago.

That'd be quite the denouement, wouldn't it, a narrative arc with pleasing symmetry. But don't even think about lumping on, not least because you'd be offered 500-1 at least. Most likely, the jig is up for the Reds. Beating Barca by four goals is one thing; hoping for Manchester City to drop points is on another plane entirely.

City are currently on a relentless 13-match winning run in the Premier League, during which they've sent the likes of Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea and Manchester United packing. In their last two games they've scored one winner that only made it three centimetres over the line, then another that would still be circling the planet today had the netting at the Etihad not passed strict EU consumer guidelines. City can dazzle and thrill, but they can also grind and scramble. Either way works, and they're nearly always in total control. You half expect them to stop and take requests. It's difficult to see them stumbling at the final hurdle.

So if it all goes to form, this magnificent Liverpool side will be left to ponder the absurdity of not winning the league despite harvesting 97 points and losing just one game in 38. It's a cruel trick to play on a club whose current identity is intrinsically linked with their quest for the holy grail.

Now, there are other title-winning behemoths who have been waiting longer for that elusive next title. Nine-time champions Everton last tasted glory in 1987. Aston Villa won their seventh and last title in 1981, something of an outlier since number six came in 1910. Tottenham (two titles) most recently found success in 1961. Newcastle United (four) have been patiently waiting since 1928, eight years longer than neighbours Sunderland (six). Plenty of folk ahead in the queue.

But Liverpool's extensive roll of honour distorts the picture, and is as much a curse as a blessing. Those 18 titles, the last procured in 1990, cast a long shadow. The dominance they enjoyed in the seventies and eighties doesn't help, given it's still in living memory for at least half of the fanbase, and caught on film in glorious technicolor, like a bug in amber, for the vicarious enjoyment of younger generations.

Neither does their status as a genuine European heavyweight: Internazionale, Borussia Dortmund, Marseille, Valencia and Benfica have all suffered spells languishing in the shadows, but nobody in that bracket has been waiting this long for a domestic title. All of these spicy ingredients tip into a bubbling gumbo of impotent frustration.

Supporters of smaller clubs are at this point permitted to band together and perform the world-famous Concerto for Very Small Violin. But it's all about size, reach and historical context. Liverpool's latest near miss will crank the yearning up yet another notch, as the long wait nudges towards its fourth decade. Whether it will hurt as much in the long run as their previous Premier League close shaves is another matter.

The Spice Boys crumbled spectacularly from a winning position in 1997, eventually finishing fourth in a two-horse race with Manchester United, perhaps the first genuine realisation that the certainties of the past were long gone and clambering back onto the perch wasn't just a matter of time. Rafa Benitez got his team within touching distance, only for April 2009's Federico Macheda to inject new impetus into a misfiring United and snatch the prize away. And then there was 2014, but let's not pick on poor old Steven Gerrard again, he's suffered more than enough.

Setting aside the slim possibility of City refusing the final hurdle and Liverpool conspiring to look the gift horse in the mouth, Jurgen Klopp's team will be able to console themselves with the fact that they couldn't have done much more, within realistic boundaries and expectations. There aren't any huge what-ifs that will keep them awake at night for years; run-in draws at United and Everton only look poor in comparison to City's once-in-a-lifetime carry-on. How's your luck? And while it would hurt to finish just a point behind at the end of a marathon contested to a motorik pulse, it's worth remembering that Liverpool have missed out by even shorter distances in the past... and it's not done them too much harm in the long run.

There's the 1989 Arsenal match, of course, Steve McMahon performing the international mime for "one minute, lads", John Barnes losing the ball by the corner flag, Michael Thomas, all that. Against the same opponents 17 years earlier, John Toshack scored a "winner" with two minutes to go in the final game of the season at Highbury, but the flag went up for offside, a controversial borderline decision that infuriated Bill Shankly. "The referee deprived us of the title," he fumed. The trophy went to Derby instead.

And then - we all remember it like it was yesterday, don't we - there was 1898-99, when Tom Watson's men went to Aston Villa for the last game of the season, requiring a win for the title. They conceded a goal in the fourth minute, then another four before half-time. Villa cruised to the title instead. Three last-day matches where Liverpool had their destiny in their own hands, then, only to let it slip through their fingers. Aforementioned possible dental-examination-of-gratis-equine scenario excepted, that isn't something Klopp's side will have to live with this time, should they miss out.

Then again, if the worst-case scenario does befall Liverpool on Sunday, history for once can be their friend. Because each of those three near misses proved to be the precursor to title glory, Liverpool bouncing back to win in 1901, 1973 and 1990. A little something their fans can hold onto. Because that's the great thing about football: there's always next year, right?