Liverpool may have one foot in the Champions League quarter-finals, but Jurgen Klopp knows that means little in terms of winning the trophy.
Not when Manchester City and Chelsea will still, inevitably, stand in the way; just as they do in the FA Cup at the quarter-final stage, and in the Premier League final straight too.
To win a trophy - even the Carabao Cup - Liverpool know they will probably have to beat one or both along the way… which makes their dream of a quadruple if not impossible, then improbable.
It would also make it one of the greatest achievements of all time, because Klopp is adamant the sheer intensity and quality of his domestic rivals makes for competition at “a completely different level”.
Not that he would have it any other way, suggesting: “It’s really good for football.”
When it was pointed out that even if they defeat Inter Milan on Tuesday night, they will still have to beat City and Chelsea to win the competition, he replied: “That’s true.
"We play the strongest teams in the world. And for us, it’s completely normal. For us, we always get these kind of opponents.
“When the Champions League draw was made, everyone thought, and we thought, it was the toughest draw we could probably get.
"I can’t remember a draw when I thought - and I’m a human being - ‘ok, that’s doable.’ But it is always like this for us.
"And yes, the Premier League, the FA Cup and all the other competitions, it’s City and Chelsea, and not only them, we play so many other great teams as well.”
Klopp though, is adamant he and his remarkable team will face that formidable task with relish, because he believes it inspires not only them, but their opponents too. And it makes the contest even more exciting for observers.
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“We pushed each other on to insane levels the last few years - I think that’s really good for football,” he explained.
“The Premier League, it’s the strongest league in the world, no doubt. But that’s the challenge and we actually enjoy it.
“If we hadn’t been around, this year or two or three years ago, City would have been champions in February. Because we’re here, it was tighter.
"If City would not be here it would be a good chance we would be champions.
“It’s a challenge but we like challenges and we are used to it. The Carabao Cup final was a completely different level, an unbelievable intensity for 120 minutes because Liverpool and Chelsea faced each other.
“It’s great for the supporters, it’s great for everyone involved in football you can have games like this; usually finals aren’t too exciting and can be tactical but when these calibre face each other it’s all in. I think that’s really good for football.”
Klopp is not overlooking the threat of Inter though; far from it. It’s clear he believes they are one of the few teams who can threaten the dominance of the English clubs.
And he warned: “It’s a much better result than I would have expected, the game didn’t look like we’d win 2-0 for most of the time.
“We knew before they have quality and after that we knew after they have real quality. That’s a really experienced team and they don’t come here as tourists. They want to chase the game.
“And that’s what we want to do, we aren’t a team that defends results, we want to attack the game again. Let’s see what we get from it.”
