Sometimes the difference between success and failure can be wafer-thin.
And any team chasing a quadruple can expect at some point to have to rely on a little fortune if they are to give themselves a chance of an unprecedented achievement.
That was outlined here as Liverpool’s absorbing, throwback of an FA Cup quarter-final at Nottingham Forest was decided inside two second-half minutes.
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Despite the Reds' dominance in possession, the game was very much in the balance when, with 14 minutes remaining, Forest winger Brennan Johnson broke down the right and crossed into the path of the unmarked Philip Zinckernagel.
He had to score. Instead, time almost stood still as Alisson Becker watched the ball slide wide of his left-hand post. Liverpool had escaped.
That was underlined barely 120 seconds later when two players who had until that point endured a difficult afternoon combined for the game’s key moment, Kostas Tsimikas turning inside on to his right foot and crossing from the left wing to the far post where a stretching Diogo Jota was on hand to prod home.
Even then, Jurgen Klopp’s side were reliant on VAR confirming the Portuguese hadn’t strayed offside before applying the slightest of touches.
As at Arsenal in midweek, Jota had lit up an indifferent individual performance with the game’s pivotal contribution, a happy knack for any forward.
He now has 19 goals for the season. Remarkably, 12 of those have been Liverpool’s first of the game, 10 of which they have gone on to win with the other two drawn.
Jota, perhaps even more so than 28-goal Mohamed Salah, has made the difference with his goalscoring efforts.
With seven changes from the Premier League win at Arsenal in midweek, this was a banana skin in the making as Forest, backed by a raucous crowd, showed heart and aggression, even if the gulf in class between the teams was at times evident. Klopp’s men showed once again they can roll up their sleeves and do the dirty stuff, Ibrahima Konate impressive at the back.
Liverpool now face Manchester City on successive weekends, first at the Etihad in the Premier League on April 10, and then at Wembley in the FA Cup semi-final. Pep Guardiola’s side were always going to have to be overcome at some point.
The quadruple remains on. But this was a reminder of just how difficult it can be to keep all those plates spinning.
