London (AFP)

The wait will have been long, thirty years including three months to wonder if the coronavirus was not going to spoil everything, but the Liverpool of Jürgen Klopp reigns again over English football, after the defeat on Thursday from Manchester City to Chelsea (2-1).

The Reds had done their part of the work on Wednesday, brilliantly and in the closed door of Anfield, crushing Crystal Palace (4-0).

With 86 points and 23 units ahead of Pep Guardiola's men seven days from the end, Klopp's team can finally breathe.

Manchester City-Liverpool in a week at the Etihad Stadium, for the 32nd day, will look like passing witnesses between two teams that have crushed the championship for two years.

We can always regret that the Reds are sacred without playing, without an audience and without any real prospect of sharing their happiness with the supporters. But "honestly, I don't care," Klopp replied in anticipation when asked if that would make him less happy.

This long-awaited epilogue erases three decades of frustration, punctuated by disappointments in 2009, 2014 or even last year, when 97 points were not enough against Citizens who had taken one more.

From the end of winter, the question was no longer if, but when the Liverpool of 2020 would join that of 1990, the last champion.

At the time, the Premier League had not yet been launched and the English championship was not this colossal financial power competition followed all over the world.

- Earliest champion -

The appearance of the new coronavirus and the Covid-19 pandemic it caused almost derailed Liverpool's return to the top by abruptly interrupting competitions in March.

But by force of will and compromise, sometimes under the threat of gigantic financial losses, football has resumed its rights to arrive at a sports verdict which is only justice.

This year, the Reds crushed the Premier League with an unquenchable thirst for victory that allowed them to often break the toughest locks in the very last minutes.

Despite a plethora of stars - Virgil van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold, or the trio Salah-Firmino-Mané, to name a few - it was their collective strength that impressed.

Several records fallen along the way bear witness to this undivided domination.

Liverpool are, after 31 days, the earliest champion in history, having taken 33 for Manchester United in 2001 and City in 2018.

This record is explained by the start in cannonball: they had taken 61 points out of 63 possible during the first 21 days, unheard of in the 5 major championships.

With 23 consecutive victories at home, current series, they also erased the Reds from the legendary Bill Shankly (21) from the shelves.

They counted at one point 25 points ahead of City, the biggest gap ever noted between a leader and his dolphin.

- Shadows on the board-

And it's not over !

They can still improve the 100 points reached by City in 2017/2018 and their difference of 19 points on United, 2nd.

Ending the season with 19 wins in 19 games at Anfield does not seem impossible, even if, after the visits of the relegation Aston Villa and the midfielder Burnley, it would be necessary to take the best on Chelsea who may play his place in the Champions League, on the 37th day.

This season, where the Reds also won their first Club World Cup in Qatar in December, will undoubtedly have a great place in their very rich history.

Some shadows remain on the board, however.

The elimination from the knockout stages in the Champions League, against Atlético Madrid (1-0, 3-2, after extra time), while they were defending champions, was a great disappointment.

To a lesser degree, the national cup runs interrupted in the eighth for the FA and in the quarter for the League Cup, even if the Reds aligned their reserve team (the first team was in Qatar), remain disappointing.

They decide in any case with the Citizens who had achieved an unprecedented national treble last year, even if they are still chasing their first continental coronation.

But for the eternal dissatisfied that is Jürgen Klopp, no doubt that these small reserves will be as many sources of motivation to try to bring the Reds even higher next year.

© 2020 AFP