With the Premier League inaugural winter break seemingly lasting an eternity, Liverpool are once again ready to once again begin competing on all fronts.
With the opportunity to extend their already gargantuan lead at the foot of the PL to 25 points, Jurgen Klopp’s ‘mentality monsters’ will also continue their defence of their Champions League crown.
Just three days after Liverpool’s domestic clash with Norwich City this afternoon, Klopp will once again be leading out the kings of Europe with Atletico Madrid waiting in the wings.
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND – JANUARY 19: Mohamed Salah of Liverpool celebrates after scoring his team’s second goal during the Premier League match between Liverpool FC and Manchester United at Anfield on January 19, 2020 in Liverpool, United Kingdom. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
The prospect of coming up against the 2014 and 2016 Champions League finalists should be one that would strike fear in the heart of the opposing force yet there is a relatively calming approach amongst Kopites ahead of this critical period of the season.
There is unwavering confidence that no entity amongst Europe’s elite can stop this Jurgen Klopp winning-machine in it’s tracks. This raises the question that with Liverpool currently operating at a level that has gone unrivalled amongst the rest of the continent, is there anyone left for the Reds to fear?
Liverpool at the time of writing have won 24 and drawn one of their first 25 league games. It is the strongest start seen not only in the Premier League era but in top-flight history across England, France, Germany, Italy or Spain.
They are the only remaining unbeaten league outfit amongst Europe’s top-five leagues and are just six league wins away from making the top-flight championship a mathematical certainty.
Whilst there domestic prospects have never looked brighter, their fortunes in Europe are just as rosy. Klopp and Liverpool will have their sights set on a third consecutive Champions League final and will look to be the first English team since Manchester United in 2008 to record a league and continental double.
Liverpool also are safely in the knowledge that Klopp is still yet to lose a European knockout tie since his arrival at the club in 2015.
There isn’t an opposition in the continent’s elite bracket that comes close to this quite ridiculous regularity that Liverpool are making look frankly rather ordinary.
Real Madrid and Barcelona are both in transitional periods following a decade of supreme global dominance. Juventus are heavily reliant on a player that is far beyond his peak and is no longer capable of single-handily carrying his team to the heights of his former clubs.
Paris Saint Germain are still yet to progress past the last-16 of the Champions League in their previous three seasons, meanwhile, Bayern Munich are currently on their fourth manager in just over two years.
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – MARCH 19: Jurgen Klopp, Manager of Liverpool (L) and Josep Guardiola, Manager of Manchester City (R) embrace after the Premier League match between Manchester City and Liverpool at Etihad Stadium on March 19, 2017 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
The Reds’ greatest threat is arguably English rivals and current Premier League holders Manchester City. However, Pep Guardiola’s juggernauts have fallen off a cliff this season and have just been handed a two-season ban from European competitions after being found to have committed serious breaches of UEFA’s club licensing and financial fair play regulations.
With Europe’s titans all engulfed in their own domestic issues there has never been a better time for Liverpool to establish their own era of unrivalled domination.