Last night, Liverpool slumped to yet another humilation at the hands of Chelsea at home in Europe on a night that had promised so much.
The mood on the Kop ahead of the first leg of the Champions League quarter final between the two sides was vociferous and vibrant - evident from the highly emotional rendition of You'll Never Walk Alone amidst a sea of flags, scarves and inspirational banners heralding the club's illustrious past.
Fernando Torres' sixth minute opener was greeted by the sight of 12,000 Kopites jumping up and down as they chanted the Spaniard's name. Those who were not participating in the bouncing will no doubt have felt the vibrations beneath their feet as the famous structure - an all-seater reincarnation of its former glory - was rocked to its 15-year-old foundations.
Unfortunately the bouncing ceased and after 20 minutes Chelsea put their foot into gear, proving that the league double the Reds had completed over them this season during Luiz Felipe Scolari's tenure was not a true mark of the West Londoners' potential. Liverpool's zonal marking was punished not once but twice and with identical headed goals by Branislav Ivanovic. Didier Drogba appeared to play like a man possessed and deserved his goal as the visitors ran riot. The blow was as painful as John Arne Riise's 92nd minute goal in last season's semi final between the two sides.
From a Red perspective, Guus Hiddink well and truly outsmarted his opposite number. Steven Gerrard was marked out of the game to the point where he appeared to be a valiant bystander at times. The absence of Javier Mascherano through suspension was felt greatly as Lucas Leiva struggled to fill the gap usually occupied by the Argentina captain. Albert Riera's inconsistency was once again a factor as was his repeated loss of possession. This was not the Liverpool that had surged back into the title race in recent weeks. This was not the team that put 13 goals past Real Madrid, Manchester United and Aston Villa in consecutive games. The performance was akin to one of those shown by the club in the 2007/08 season - slightly motivated yet sheepish.
You can spend all day praising Chelsea's performance but the main issue is how Liverpool will recover from this. Prior to the defeat they had not lost at Anfield all season. Confidence was very high at the club. So high in fact that Rafael Benitez felt that it was safe to enter into mind games with Sir Alex Ferguson for the second time this year, safe in the knowledge that his team would not falter as they did following his last war of words with the Manchester United manager in January. He was wrong.
At time of writing his team are still pressing United for the title and overtook the current league leaders for less than 24 hours last weekend. With Blackburn preparing to visit L4 this weekend the Spaniard will be keen to banish the humiliation of Wednesday night which has all but ended his team's hopes of European success this term. United almost faltered last Sunday against Villa, they were held at home by Porto in Europe earlier this week. Tiredness appears to have taken its toll on the defending champions and a betting man would put money on that fatigue catching up with them before the end of the season, especially with the return leg in Portugal next week to add to their game in hand as well as an FA Cup sem final against Everton a week on Sunday.
Come 3pm on Saturday afternoon, there will be no doubt about how much Wednesday night's defeat has knocked Liverpool's confidence. If the in-form team of the past few weeks turn up and grind out a credible scoreline then the question will be answered but if anything other than a home win is the end result then the momentum will surely have slipped away from the Reds.
