Liverpool fans know all about missing out on a league title despite showing phenomenal consistency, having twice finished second to Manchester City with 90+ points tallies since 2019.
However, even the cruel fate of 97 points only being good enough for a runners-up spot for us five years ago has now been eclised, and a former Reds player is among those involved.
The 2023/24 Turkish Super Lig finished on Sunday, and Ryan Kent’s Fenerbahce were left licking their wounds as they missed out on the title by three points.
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That was despite the 27-year-old’s team falling just one short of a century of both points and goals, winning 31 of their 38 games and losing only once (3-2 to Trabzonspor in November).
The agony was compounded by Istanbul arch-rivals being crowned champions despite shipping two defeats and having a slightly inferior goal difference.
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Suffice to say that Liverpool fans can very much empathise with the plight of their Fenerbahce counterparts after that mindblowing end to the Super Lig season.
As if that weren’t bad enough for Kent to absorb, he’s also had to watch from afar as his teammates pushed for the title, having been cut from the club’s list of foreign players for Turkish fixtures in February.
The 27-year-old’s only involvement in the last three months came in his team’s Europa Conference League round of 16 tie against Union Saint-Gilloise, who dropped down from our Europa League group over the winter.
Much like how Liverpool were left counting the cost of failing to beat Everton at Goodison Park in 2019, Fenerbahce will look to a recent 0-0 draw away to Konyaspor – who only survived relegation by a point -as the result which ultimately put paid to their title hopes.
At least Kent and his teammates can console themselves with a place in the Champions League qualifiers over the summer, along with local bragging rights after they beat Galatasaray eight days ago to prevent their arch-rivals from winning the title against them that day.