It could nearly have been so very, very different.
Deep into injury time in the final Champions League group game against Napoli last December, Liverpool were ahead by the narrowest of margins through Mohamed Salah's strike when the ball dropped inside the area to unmarked visiting substitute Arkadiusz Milik.
Anfield held its breath as the Poland international swung his boot. An equaliser then would have sent the Reds tumbling out.
Instead, Alisson Becker raced from his line and produced a fantastic block, denying the Serie A side and putting Liverpool through.
As a turning point in the road to the Champions League final and subsequent glory against Tottenham Hotspur, it's easy to pinpoint.
But that save also ensured Jurgen Klopp's side banished a curious quirk of their history in the competition.
For the first time, Liverpool had progressed from a group without having had to first reach that stage through the qualifying rounds.
Before last season, the Reds had earned a place in the Champions League on 10 previous occasions.
Seven times, they had to come through at least one qualifying round - in 2005/06, it was three rounds despite having won the trophy mere months earlier.
But on the three occasions they had started in the groups, each time they failed to reach the last 16.
The first such instance was in 2002-03, when a 3-3 draw in Basel, coming back from 3-0 down at one stage, wasn't enough to oust the Swiss and join Valencia in going through.
The next came in 2009-10, with the concession of last-minute goals both home and away to Lyon costing the Reds three points and dumping them out with a game still remaining.
And the most recent occasion was in 2014-15, with Basel once more costing Liverpool with a 1-1 draw in the final group game at Anfield.
All three previous occasions came when Liverpool had finished runners-up in the Premier League the previous season.
However, a change in qualification rules meant that Liverpool, despite finishing fourth in 2017/18, were placed directly in the group stage last term.
We know what happened next. A sixth European Cup, and the end of a now forgotten curse.
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