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It was a memorable night in Madrid for the Reds, but with the majority of their team approaching their glory years, it will not be the only one.
"Sorry guys, not interviews. I have to protect that. "
Alison Becker did not stop for anyone, and with good reason.
He held the European Cup in his hand and a party to go to. You could have illuminated Mathew Street with his smile.
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More than two hours had pbaded since the final, the resounding whistle of Damir Skomina and Liverpool players were finally ready to bid farewell to Wanda Metropolitano. They will never forget their first visit to this beautiful arena.
Most remained in the field, absorbing sensation among glitter and litter. One more minute, five minutes more, one more photo.
Mohamed Salah was the first to emerge from the locker room and in the chaos of the mixed zone. The Egyptian had promised a local journalist to grant an interview after the final.
"If we win?" He had said. "When we win!"
Salah kept his promise, his first conversation with the British media all season. He had repaired the wrongs from a year ago. Despair in Kiev to revel in Madrid. Why would not he want to talk?
"I have sacrificed a lot for my career," he told reporters on TV. "To be Egyptian at this level is incredible."
Moments later, Alisson would zoom in. He had captured the scenes in the locker room on his Instagram page and would do the same from the bus comfort of the team. The big-eared trophy was in good hands with the Brazilian.
His compatriot, Roberto Firmino, would arrive soon after. A bottle of beer in hand, a brilliant gold medal around his neck – the first of his professional career.
It's a new field for so many members of this Liverpool team, new feelings and new experiences. Who could blame them, this team of unlikely heroes recruited from Newcastle and Sunderland, Roma and Hull. Glasgow and Wearsider, Brazilians and Dutch. The local boy and grumpy Yorkshireman, the Belgian at the piano. The Senegalese prince and the Egyptian king.
They all suffered to arrive here. They were relegated, they were scrapped, sold, written off. They had to deal with critics and skeptics. Haters. They were told that they were not good enough or able to tie the boots of those who preceded them
And there they are, the chests out, the shoulders back. The top of the mountain. The kings of Europe.
How do you feel?
"It's time for the party!" Smiles Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, a contagious and implacably positive person. "Where is my captain?", Shouted Adam Lallana. Her season was marred by injury but her smile is wider than the Mersey tunnel. "I lost my voice," said Xherdan Shaqiri, winner of the Champions League for the second time in six years.
There are real links within this team and nights like this will only strengthen them. Liverpool needed a trophy, we were told. They needed something tangible to underline their progress under Jurgen Klopp. They had to prove that they could be winners and artists.
Accomplished job. And the hope for Klopp, for his players and his fans, is that this is just the beginning. They will be disappointed if they have to wait seven years before receiving their next trophy.
It's a team, a team at its peak. The majority – with the exception of James Milner – is between 20 and 20 years old and is linked to long-term contracts. Milner will have another year of career, Joel Matip and Divock Origi will be offered extensions this summer. Salah, Alison, Firmino, Virgil van Dijk, Fabinho, Sadio Mane, Andy Robertson, Alexander Trent-Arnold, they are all here to stay. They are all the best in the world and will improve under Klopp.
No wonder the director smiled like a Cheshire cat while he was clearing his way through the crowd and into the bus. "They have all the best moments of their career ahead of them, which is huge," he told the post-match press conference. He knows that there will be more coming from this team.
He had spoken with surprising calm under the circumstances (his television interviews were a little more lively), but he felt "relieved above all else". He rejected the idea of pressure, but he knew the importance of this first trophy. The monkey is on his back.
"I'm happy for the boys," he said. "Listen, you know what people have said about a few players on this team and things like that.
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"But I can say that. Jordan Henderson is the captain of the winners of the Champions League in 2019. That's pretty satisfying. "
Absolutely. Those who were in Madrid will not forget that so quickly. The stories will last a lifetime.
A night. A team.
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