Liverpool's marathon season set for epic climax

It began with a 3-0 win at Carrow Road in August and it will end, nine gruelling months later, with a Champions League final against Real Madrid in Paris. Sixty-two games played. One more to come.

Liverpool have contested every fixture possible in their incredible season, the last 16 coming in the space of just 56 days and including an FA Cup final triumph over Chelsea in a game which, like their Carabao Cup final win in February, went the full distance.

The same can be said of their Premier League title challenge, which was alive until the final 15 minutes of the final day. Liverpool, 14 points behind Manchester City at one point in January, took 51 points from a possible 57 in the second half of the campaign.

"We have given absolutely everything," said Jordan Henderson.

That they still fell short of Premier League glory, their hopes of an unprecedented quadruple dashed by City's comeback against Aston Villa, is a measure of the competition they face.

The only team to collect more than 92 points in a season and not be crowned champions? That would be Liverpool three years ago.

Jurgen Klopp's team made up for it that year, beating Tottenham in Madrid to claim a sixth European title. Now the objective is the same - even if the stakes are arguably higher. Victory at the Stade de France would clinch a treble as well as number seven.

It only takes a wander through the streets of Paris to see the pain of Sunday's second-placed finish has not lingered long. Liverpool supporters have descended on the city in their thousands. The prevailing mood is one of hope and optimism.

Their team has provided ample reason to believe, after all, losing only three of their 62 games this season and none since December. Club records for most