It was a chant from the Wolves end that was supposed to be delivered in cruel tones and designed to do little but mock. "You nearly won the league, you nearly won the league," they sneered with about 10 minutes to go.
That it actually ended up sounding like a compliment to Liverpool 's sheer force of will was entirely in-keeping on an Anfield afternoon where nothing was quite as it seemed.
For the third time, Jurgen Klopp will break the 90-point barrier as manager, but like 2019 - when a whopping 97 was the final total - another magnificent haul of 92 is not enough to bring them a Premier League title.
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At times, it seemed as though the only thing stopping them securing a 20th championship was their own anxiety as they laboured while Manchester City, astonishingly, trailed 2-0 to Steven Gerrard's Aston Villa.
For the football romantics, however, there would be a fate much more hurtful than the laughable attempts from the Wolves faithful to rile their Liverpool counterparts: A Gerrard side, who doubled their advantage through Philippe Coutinho, could not survive the inevitable City onslaught. The dream quickly became a nightmare.
The quadruple dream is finally over then. Officially. That it lasted until May 22 is testament to their skill, character and unrelenting desire.
On the feast day of St. Rita - the patroness of impossible causes and hopeless circumstances - the Reds came so close to a footballing miracle of their own.
This is the rare gift this club possesses under Klopp: It holds an innate ability to destroy what you thought was possible within the realms of this sport and instead take you - in mind, body and soul – to a place you don’t know existed.
But while famed one-off victories over the likes of Borussia Dortmund and Barcelona somehow managed to dismiss all that was logical and rational and sane during 90 wondrous minutes, this was a different kind of comeback; one that has been sustained by brilliance and underpinned by consistency over the last five months. But, crucially, it is also one that just came up agonisingly short.
As Liverpool stared up at the start of the year at yawning gaps that stood somewhere between 11 and 14 points, it looked like Manchester City's name would be carved on the trophy long before any of this drama was allowed to unfold.
In a huge early plot twist, Wolves took the lead inside three minutes when Jose Sa's long goal kick evaded Ibrahima Konate to get Raul Jimenez away. The Mexican squared for Pedro Neto to tap home and stun the Kop.
Liverpool responded through Sadio Mane - via Thiago's sublime back-heel through ball - but the Reds would be made to wait for the goal that would give them the lead. During that time City had gone 0-2 down before making it 3-2.
Mohamed Salah scored a Golden Boot-clinching 23rd goal of the campaign to ease nerves before Andy Robertson made the result safe as stoppage time approached. By then, though, there was a reluctant acceptance that City's own mental reserves had just about dragged them over the line.
The most gut-wrenching moment was still lying in wait, though. Seconds after the restart at 2-1, Anfield shook to the unmistakable reaction of another Villa goal at the Etihad. Sadly, for Klopp and co, it was a false alarm that broke hearts. It would stay at 3-2 and the crown would be City’s once more.
It should never have even been a question over where the destination of this title was headed given that City's lead stood at a daunting 14 on January 15, but any questioning of Liverpool’s resolve evaporated years ago.
The final blast of Anthony Taylor's whistle sounded shortly before 6pm but there was to be no frustration at how the day played out. There were no pangs of regret or gnawing of what might have been. Not here. Instead, over 50,000 saluted the efforts of their team, those who kept them dreaming until the very dying seconds.
But even without a second Premier League title in three seasons, it's been a wondrous nine months or so for Klopp, his staff and squad. They lost just twice and enjoyed some of the most memorable wins in years.
It was the season when Manchester United were beaten 5-0 at Old Trafford and a triumphant You'll Never Walk Alone echoed all around Old Trafford in October. The same season when the name of Everton's manager was sung loud and long from the Liverpool end as the biggest win at Goodison Park since 1982 was recorded on a cold December night. And it was the same season where Reds fans chanted, self-deprecatingly, about having no money but still winning the league at Leeds, Watford and Norwich, where it all started way back on August 14.
That, ultimately, has not come to pass, but the lack of silver at the end of this particular rainbow does not mean those days were rejoiced in any less. For the last few weeks, Klopp has strongly insisted that everyone connected with the football club simply enjoys the ride they have all been on. They have taken his advice and then some.
And while the impossible dream that was the quadruple has been proven to be little more than a mirage hiding behind the deluge of fixtures, the fact that it has taken until game No.62 to be declared dead says all that is needed to be known about the form and fortunes of Klopp's men in 2021/22.
That the number 20 will not be tacked underneath the First Division and Premier League silhouettes on the champions' wall outside Anfield will not dilute the feel-good factor coursing throughout the collective fanbase right now.
And it is not over yet because the domestic double winners want more. Now the challenge is to ensure that this extraordinary term ends in triumph in the biggest fixture in club football next week.
The next six days will be full of the best-laid plans. Planes and trains will be booked, there are prices to be assessed and Expedia, Skyscanner and Booking dot com will all be browsed to within an inch of their existence as the Paris plots continue in earnest.
Attention has to turn quickly these days at Liverpool and all eyes now divert to the not insignificant matter of another European Cup showpiece in the French capital on Saturday evening.
But when the curtain is eventually drawn in a little under a week's time; when Liverpool's seemingly never-ending whir of football fixtures have finally been fulfilled, Reds fans will reflect and then toast to just what all of this: A golden period in time for Liverpool FC, Premier League title or not.
