The Europa League will be "our competition" for the Reds next season, according to Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp, who has all but admitted defeat in the battle for a Champions League spot.
In the Premier League standings, Klopp's squad had spent the majority of the season between sixth and tenth place, but a run of seven straight victories from mid-April to mid-May, together with Manchester United's lull above them, had Liverpool in the running for a top-four finish.
On Saturday, any lingering aspirations appeared to have been fully destroyed when the Reds were kept to a point by Aston Villa, salvaging a draw with a late equalizer by Roberto Firmino in his final game at Anfield, while United managed to win away at Bournemouth.
Now that United and Newcastle have played their final two games, they each need just one more point to mathematically eliminate Liverpool.
The Europa League will become our competition, Klopp promised BBC Sport. I'm not very spoiled. With all these clubs around us, it's remarkable that we have already earned a spot in the Europa League. That was incredibly challenging, but we managed it, so that's fantastic.
"We were so far away for so long that we couldn't even hear the Champions League. The Europe League is doing great. See what we can accomplish.
Following the recent victory over Leicester earlier this month, Liverpool was already guaranteed a spot in the Europa League at the very least for the upcoming season.
After eight years of Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup, League Cup, UEFA Super Cup, FIFA team World Cup, and Community Shield victories, it is the only trophy the team hasn't won during Klopp's leadership.
