Liverpool suffered heartbreak in Barcelona on Wednesday night, but their quest to win the Premier League is still alive. It has been a remarkable campaign and, with 91 points on the board, they will chase Manchester City all the way to the line.
Ahead of Saturday's crucial trip to Newcastle, long-serving goalkeeper Simon Mignolet told Sportsmail the story of the season from the players' perspective.
The Belgian has been on the journey every step of the way, seeing the highs and lows, and knows Liverpool can still dream.
Simon Mignolet has been an important presence off the field for Liverpool this campaign
The Belgian believes the group at Anfield have what it takes to be champions one day
DREAMING BIG
After reaching the Champions League final last May, Liverpool made four big summer signings and enjoyed a fruitful start to the season. The key moment for the squad, though, was the night Paris Saint-Germain came to town in September and were taken apart.
SIMON MIGNOLET: It all started so well. We had four victories before the first international break. When we came back we then had Tottenham at Wembley and PSG at home in the Champions League, two of the best teams in the world in quick succession.
We beat Spurs 2-1, then scored three against PSG and blew them away. If we could play like that against Edinson Cavani, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe, why couldn't we do it to everyone else? We knew, there and then, we didn't need to be afraid of anyone.
We had a good run the previous season but we knew people would wonder if we could sustain it. So that game was the benchmark. That's where it all started.
Mignolet spoke exclusively to Sportsmail's Dominic King about Liverpool's season so far
SQUAD UNITY
Jurgen Klopp has emphasised how well run Liverpool's dressing room is. Mignolet's role may have changed over the last 12 months but he is an important member behind the scenes and the inclusive atmosphere has been crucial to maintaining form.
SM: I've never been in a dressing room where there hasn't been trouble at some stage.
There's always going to be something where someone doesn't talk to someone else or they don't get on.
Alongside his prolific goalscoring, Sadio Mane also tries to make his team-mates laugh
But that isn't the case with this squad. It's been that way for a year. Nobody is talking behind anyone's back, nobody has a grudge.
Sadio Mane always tries to be the joker but his jokes aren't always funny — people ended up laughing with him, rather than at the joke he made!
There's a lot of banter going on... Robbo (Andy Robertson), Milly (James Milner), Virg (Virgil van Dijk) — it comes from all sides.
Mignolet also identified James Milner (left) and Andrew Robertson as two of the biggest jokers
WORRYING TIMES
It is easy to look at Liverpool's results and think progress has been smooth, but that is not the case. Autumn brought some below-standard league performances and poor results in the Champions League. A 2-0 defeat at Red Star Belgrade was a line in the sand.
SM: October and November was a rough patch. We lost to Napoli away, drew with Manchester City at home, drew at Arsenal and then lost to Belgrade. Everything that could have gone wrong that night did go wrong.
The main thing that came out of it was doubt. The manager was so unhappy. We stayed over in Belgrade and the big question we asked was: 'Why are we doing this?' It turned out to be a game we learned more from. We had to make sure it didn't happen in the Premier League.
A shock defeat at Red Star Belgrade in November proved to be a significant turning point
DEFINING DAYS
Lift-off for Liverpool came on December 2, when they dramatically beat Everton 1-0 in the Merseyside derby with an
