The last thing Liverpool supporters needed was reaction to Manchester City reaching their first Champions League final serving as a reminder as to why their team has been nowhere near silverware this season.
Such has been the case in the wake of City ousting a poor Paris Saint-Germain to set up their own date with destiny at Istanbul's Ataturk Stadium later this month.
Attracting much of the praise is Ruben Dias, the centre-back in imperious form on Tuesday and underlining why he is a clear favourite to swoop individual accolades this campaign.
And the assertion is that Dias has had as transformative effect on City as Virgil van Dijk had on Liverpool.
There's no doubt the Portuguese has helped solidify a backline that became somewhat leaky last season as Pep Guardiola's team were left trailing to the Reds in the Premier League race.
But City's previous successes under Guardiola indicate they were already well adjusted to competing for the leading honours.
The same cannot quite be said about Liverpool before Van Dijk's arrival in January 2018, having won just one major trophy in the previous 12 years.
Within months, the Reds had reached their first Champions League final since 2007. With Fabinho and Alisson Becker then signed up, Liverpool became champions of Europe, the world and, finally, England.
It's too simplistic to say Liverpool's travails this season have been down purely to Van Dijk being absent for all bar the first month. The losses of Joe Gomez, Joel Matip and, to a lesser extent, Jordan Henderson and Fabinho, along with the injury concerns to new signings such as Thiago Alcantara and Diogo Jota, have all combined to hamper progress.
However, the sheer clout of Van Dijk's talismanic presence and leadership qualities would have gone some way to addressing the mental frailties that have subsequently eaten away at Jurgen Klopp's squad.
Hence the excitement among Liverpool fans at Van Dijk beginning to make visible progress in his recovery from the anterior cruciate ligament damage, sustained when caught by a horror challenge by Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, that has sidelined him since October.
Back working with the ball on the pitch at Kirkby, the end of the Premier League season will almost certainly come too soon for Van Dijk.
Holland, though, remain hopeful of him playing some part at this summer's European Championships, even if Klopp is adamant the final call will come down to how Van Dijk feels about his recovering knee.
While Liverpool scrabble for European qualification, City now stand on the brink of ticking off the one box that has eluded them since they were bankrolled into joining the Continent's major players by their Abu Dhabi owners.
As expected, pandemic football has played to many of City's undoubted strengths and helped eliminate their few weaknesses. Indeed, their only real surprise this season was losing the FA Cup semi-final to Chelsea, thus preventing them from completing a quadruple.
And being on the brink of a third Premier League title in four years at least underlines the magnitude of Liverpool's achievement of the previous two seasons, the only side to go toe-to-toe with - let alone conquer - City's long-term sporting project.
Liverpool, with Van Dijk proving his transformative qualities once more, will come again. For now, though, they must join everyone else in watching from home as City edge nearer joining Aston Villa on the rollcall of European champions from England.
