Liverpool Fall Short of 2018-19 Premier League Title Despite 2-0 Win vs. Wolves

Liverpool came up just short in a bid to win the Premier League title, despite closing out a superb season with a 2-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers at Anfield on Sunday.  

Sadio Mane's 21st and 22nd league goals of the season weren't enough to prevent the Reds from finishing runners-up thanks to Manchester City's 4-1 win away to Brighton & Hove Albion. 

Finishing on 97 points is scant consolation for Liverpool, but an upcoming UEFA Champions League final against Tottenham Hotspur does at least provide another opportunity for an excellent campaign to end with silverware.

Klopp Needs UCL Win to Avoid "Choker" Label

As good as Liverpool have been this season, is anybody truly surprised their effort hasn't been quite good enough? After all, this appears to be the pattern under manager Jurgen Klopp: close, but not close enough.

How else do you explain finishing on 97 points and still ending up empty handed in the league? Probably the same way you explain losing three finals since Klopp took over in 2015.

The German now needs to beat Tottenham in this season's Champions League showpiece. Defeat in Madrid will leave Klopp open to being labelled one of the game's chokers.

It will be hard to argue against the unflattering label for a manager who lost the 2016 Capital One Cup final to City on penalties. Things have been more painful on the continent after Sevilla put Klopp's men to the sword 3-1 in the 2016 UEFA Europa League final, before Gareth Bale helped Real Madrid break Liverpool hearts in last season's Champions League.

Unfortunately for Liverpool, these aren't failures isolated to Klopp's time on Merseyside. He also lost the 2013 Champions League final 2-1 to Bayern Munich while in charge of Borussia Dortmund, while Wolfsburg beat his team 3-1 in the DFB-Pokal final two years later.

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Klopp has done an exceptional job of turning Liverpool into a resilient team capable of bringing out the best in a superior rival. His Reds are chasers always willing to keep the pressure on, but they are not yet winners.

When it comes to the crunch, performances have never quite been good enough, summed up by City bettering today's result.

Putting together a performance when it matters most continues to elude Liverpool on Klopp's watch. However, a win over Spurs will change the picture entirely and finally mean respect for the work he's done turning Liverpool into a heavyweight, both domestically and in Europe, since arriving at Anfield. 

What's Next?

Liverpool can go one better in the Champions League after losing in last season's final by beating Tottenham Hotspur at the Wanda Metropolitano on Saturday, 1 June.