"As Virgil van Dijk raised the Premier League trophy on a cool May afternoon at Anfield, the cap was sealed on a serenely glorious season for Liverpool. For sure there had been challenges en route to a 20th league title, but not many, and those that did arise were dealt with in a calm, orderly fashion. The ultimate prize had been captured with minimum sweat."
"Cue the celebrations after a finalday 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace: players and staff dancing on the pitch, supporters doing the same in the stands, and no sense this was as good as it was going to get for the just-crowned champions. It took less than 24 hours for everything to change and set in motion an astonishing sevenmonth period in the history of a club where it was probably thought they had seen and done it all."
"Heavy rain lashed down but that was stopping nobody from rejoicing, including those at the top of an open-top bus where Van Dijk had the Premier League trophy in his hands for a second day in a row but this time with shades on and Calvin Harris at his side. It was a party all right and looked set to continue into the night, but then came the incident for which the parade is remembered"
Liverpool secured a 20th league title in a calm, commanding season and celebrated with a final-day party and a trophy parade through the city. Heavy rain failed to dampen the crowds, but the parade turned horrific when a car ploughed into more than 130 people, injuring victims from six months to 77 years old. The driver, Paul Doyle, received a jail sentence of more than 21 years, offering some legal closure while leaving lasting sadness. The club then experienced the sudden death of Diogo Jota in July, producing profound, unquantifiable impact across the organisation and fanbase. The ensuing months contained chaos, fear, joy, despair, farce and repeated setbacks.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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