Liverpool’s recent win in Madrid means that they’ve now won Europe’s premier club competition six times and although being kings of the continent has a nice feel to it, there are still domestic matters to be resolved.

That’s because the Anfield outfit have not been crowned as champions of England since 1990 and even though they registered a best-ever points haul of 97 this season, it was still not enough to get the better of rivals Manchester City. In any other Premier League season bar the last two, Liverpool’s points tally would have been more than enough to capture the title and it just goes to show just how intense a race for the championship it was.

Once that enthralling campaign concluded, many pundits were wondering if such a Herculean effort by the Merseysiders was then going to be followed up by a deflated performance against Tottenham in Madrid. However, this was far from the case, as Jurgen Klopp’s men were worthy winners of the Champions League and with the challenge of conquering Europe now completed, the focus is on ruling the roost back home.

Considering that Liverpool found themselves in Tottenham’s position just twelve months ago, the transformation has been nothing short of incredible and there is now a real belief within the camp, that they can finally land a first ever Premier League title. A belief that isn’t quite shared by the bookmakers though and a look at the Premier League betting outright market has holders Manchester City as 4/6 favourites, while Liverpool find themselves at the slightly longer price of 9/4. The Reds are not topping the outright markets at present, but the pressure will be on Manchester City to deliver once more.

That’s not to say the pressure is not on Liverpool, either, especially after such an incredible season and after raising the bar so high, there is always the danger of not sustaining this current level of achievement. With that in mind, Liverpool’s rivals will be hoping that they’ve reached the summit and are now preparing to scale back down the mountain, but those same rivals will be all too aware that success is only the impetus for more.

Now that Klopp and his players have lifted some silverware, they will undoubtedly have the taste for another trophy win and for this reason alone, Manchester City will have to be on high alert. Much was made about the difficulty in winning back to back league titles, something that City showed can be done and although they will be confident of extending that streak to three next May, it might end up being a quest too far.

While it could also be, that Liverpool and City have opposite objectives and crave the item that the other currently has in their possession and, therefore, don’t be too surprised if the current roles are reversed twelve months from now.