PARIS -- The biggest test of Liverpool, the team manager Jurgen Klopp has taken to calling his "mentality monsters," has yet to come. There is little doubt Klopp's side are among the finest in the Premier League and the Champions League today but the quest to amass the trophy haul befitting that status goes on.
As he surveyed the scene at the full-time whistle in the Stade de France after Saturday's 1-0 loss to Real Madrid in the Champions League final, Klopp consoled each of his crestfallen players in turn, beginning a healing process that has to turn this latest disappointment into fuel to drive them on again next season.