After 45 minutes of this Champions League semi-final first leg, the travelling Villarreal fans had every reason to believe they might be witnessing another miracle.
Their team had made it to half-time in the cauldron of Anfield having kept the score at 0-0, and they had also - at times - made a quadruple-chasing Liverpool look short of ideas.
As such, thoughts will no doubt have turned to the recent shock wins over Juventus and Bayern Munich, and the possibility of taking another major scalp back to Castellon.
Unfortunately, any supporter in yellow thinking along those lines had not accounted for the fact that, even among Europe's elite clubs, there are levels.
And, although Manchester City might have a strong case to be ranked alongside them, Liverpool are otherwise alone at the summit.
It did not look much like that during an opening period that ended with the hosts having taken 12 shots, the most in a Champions League semi-final first half without scoring since such data was first collected in 2003-04.
That owed much to Villarreal's sheer refusal to offer up quality chances, with the midfield and defence working beautifully in tandem to deny all space.
The dark arts were also being deployed impressively, goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli taking as much time as he could over goal kicks, while cheap fouls were bought from frustrated opponents.
However, as he proved during Sunday's Merseyside derby win over Everton, Jurgen Klopp is never better than when given a half-time puzzle to solve.
And it looked from the very first whistle of the second period that the German had repeated the trick once again.
Suddenly, there was an extra zip to Liverpool's play, and their visitors' previously solid shape was beginning to look porous as players were dragged out against their will.
Admittedly, there was an element of fortune to the Reds' opener, Pervis Estupinan's attempted block looping over a stranded Rulli and into the back of the net.
But it had been earned through a rapid left-to-right passing exchange that opened space for Jordan Henderson to cross - the sort of move that had been missing in the first half.
From there, Liverpool smelled blood, and just two minutes later had put together another slick pattern to leave a rattled Villarreal two down.
It was a whirlwind attacking flurry that so few teams can produce, one that will have given Klopp confidence that a third Champions League final appearance with this club awaits.
As impressive as their route to this stage of the tournament has been, Villarreal never trailed either Juventus or Bayern by more than a single goal at any stage of those ties.
And it is hard to imagine how they might close that deficit in Spain next week without opening up too much against such deadly opponents.
Stranger things have happened, of course, but the likelihood is that a meeting with a Liverpool team eyeing the history books will prove to be a step too far for Villarreal.
Watkins start for England in Greece was 'no slight on Kane' - Carsley
Outgoing England interim manager Lee Carsley says his decision to start Ollie Watkins over Harry Kane against Greece was 'no slight' on his captain.
The Three Lions had suffered nine withdrawals from their initial squad announced last week, although Kane remained available for selection and came on for Watkins in the 66th minute.
But Carsley's decision paid off, with Watkins putting England ahead after just seven minutes, with his fifth international goal setting them on the way to a 3-0 win in Athens, with an own goal and Curtis Jones rounded off the scoring.
"It was brilliant for Ollie to get a goal," Carsley said. "It's important that I think if we are going to put these players in a position where we are going to go and win the World Cup, then these players need to have as many experiences as they can.
"So, it was no slight on Harry. He'll start the next game and I think there are a lot of positives to take from that performance."
When asked how the England captain reacted to not being named in the starting XI, Carsley explained that Kane had no issues with it.
"He was absolutely fine. It would be fair to say he wants to play every game, like all top players do," he said.
"I think he understands that it's important that other players experience that kind of experience that we had tonight.
"He's a great example to the rest of the players and I expect him to start on Sunday and play well."
The decision to start Watkins over Kane came alongside other selection decisions, as Rico Lewis, Noni Madueke, Jones, Lewis Hall and Morgan Rogers all featured for a youthful England side, with the latter three making their senior debuts.
Despite Carsley's roots as England Under-21 coach, he assured the post-match media that there was no nepotism on his part to include the more inexperienced players.
"No, none at all, to be fair," the interim boss said. "None at all.
"I see the quality that the players have got. You're now seeing it in terms of the younger ones, that they're more than capable with the mentality and quality they've got to play in stages like tonight.
"I thought a lot of the players, especially the younger ones - well, all of the players, to be fair - played with such quality tonight.
Deschamps: Mbappe not in 'happiest' period of his career
Didier Deschamps says Kylian Mbappe is "going through a period that is not the happiest of his career", which is why he is not included in France's Nations League squad.
Les Bleus were frustrated on Thursday as they were held to a 0-0 draw by Israel in front of a record-worst attendance at the Stade de France.
Despite the disjointed performance, France booked their place in the quarter-final of the Nations League with a game to spare.
However, post-match discussions came back around to Mbappe's absence and Deschamps' decision to leave him out of the squad.
Mbappe has scored eight goals in 15 appearances since joining Real Madrid, but he has hit the back of the net just once in his last six outings. Deschamps reiterated that he believed leaving his captain at home was the best decision for the player during this international break.
"He's not here, so I'll tell you what I already said. Leave him alone," Deschamps said. "I said what I had to say.
"Sometimes it's good not to say too much. There's no sanction. It's factual. He's in a complicated situation, I'm behind him.
"He's going through a period that's not the happiest of his career. Despite everything, he wanted to come. I think it's better for him at the moment. Everyone has the right to have a complicated period.
"There's the physical aspect, the psychological aspect too. There are constant interpretations, whether I speak or I don't speak. So, I'm careful to weigh my words. Either I say something, or I say nothing. I didn't say anything but I'm not going to get into debates."
France dominated against Israel, having 24 shots, eight of which were on target, as they created 2.22 expected goals.
They also had 72 touches in the opposition box, compared to the visitors' two, and 94 final third entries, though they struggled to find a way through a resolute Israel side.
Deschamps was frustrated by the lack of goals in particular and expects to make changes for their final Nations League group stage match against Italy on Sunday.
"I can't be satisfied with what we produced. We should have won. We're capable of doing better," Deschamps added.
"We could have done more against an opponent that was very compact and wasted a lot of time. We had the chances to win, but we weren't efficient enough. There was much more energy in the second half, but we still couldn't score.
"I need to take stock. There will definitely be some changes.
"I'll wait until the final training session on Saturday. Playing three days later is never easy, and there's fatigue, which is normal and not an excuse, but the players' bodies are under strain."
Jamaica 0-1 United States: Pepi give visitors advantage in Nations League quarter-final
Ricardo Pepi's first-half strike gave the United States a 1-0 advantage over Jamaica after the first leg of their Concacaf Nations League quarter-final.
The hosts saw a penalty saved in the first half before their frustrations were compounded late on thanks to Mason Holgate's red card.
The USA had the lead just five minutes in – having smothered a Jamaica attack at one end, the visitors caught them out with a pacy counter-attack, with Pepi sweeping it into the back of the net.
Shortly after, Shamar Nicholson was brought down by Matt Turner when he tried to take it around him, but the goalkeeper made amends, diving low to his right to deny Demarai Gray from 12 yards.
In the second half, Holgate was denied a tap-in by Yunus Musah before Turner scrambled to stop Leon Bailey's corner from nestling into the net as Jamaica searched for an equaliser.
With 86 minutes on the clock, Holgate received a second yellow card in just over 10 minutes for dragging Brandon Vazquez back, meaning he will miss the return leg in Missouri on Monday.
Data Debrief: Hitting the mark
Pepi got the all-important goal on Thursday, and is the fourth player to score 12 goals for the USA before turning 22 years old, joining Landon Donovan, Jozy Altidore and Christian Pulisic.
But it was perhaps Turner who actually had the most vital interventions; he has now saved three of the eight penalties he's faced for the USA, including two against Jamaica.
Mauricio Pochettino also could not have asked for a better result from his first competitive game in charge of the Stars and Stripes as he became just the third full-time manager to win his first competitive away match, joining Bob Bradley (2008) and Steve Sampson (1996).
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