LIVERPOOL, Norwich, Porto, Madrid, Milan, London, Brighton, Lisbon, Newcastle, Villarreal, Saint-Denis … 

No, this isn’t an extract from the track “Ramblin’ Man” by electro duo Lemon Jelly, these are just some of the places the travelling Liverpool fans will have visited this season if they were lucky enough to go to every game.

At the beginning of the season, Jurgen Klopp hinted that the coming year could involve a bit of a trek.

”A friend of mine who is closer to the fan culture than I could ever profess to be said to me that people support Liverpool not because they are glory hunters but because they are journey hunters,” the German said last August. “I love this sentiment."

Following this club isn’t easy, from the costs involved to the sheer difficulty of obtaining tickets for matches. But the few who have found a way to do this throughout the current campaign are enjoying the best ride top-level football has to offer at this moment in time.

Few from any generation of Liverpool fans would argue that this isn’t the greatest Liverpool side they have seen. It’s certainly the most entertaining one.

Klopp and his staff have assembled and moulded a team that have been able to challenge for titles while also enthralling fans and onlookers alike with their dazzling and energetic brand of attacking football.

Liverpool fans in Anfield last Sunday experienced/suffered the full spectrum of emotions as their team put on another dramatic display. 

The Premier League title went from being one goal away to back in Manchester City’s hands as Pep Guardiola’s side scored three in quick succession against Aston Villa to claim their fourth league trophy in five years.

Klopp’s side have already added the EFL Cup and FA Cup to the club’s bulging trophy cabinet this season, and these cannot be underestimated when judging how good this team truly is. 

Their progress to the end in every competition in which they have played is in itself a massive achievement and means this weekend’s Champions League final will be their 63rd match this season, the maximum it was possible for them to play.

They’ve only lost three of the 62 games already played, but there’s still a sense that to be remembered as the great team they obviously are, they need to win this one final match in order to prove it.

Such an already successful season resting solely on one game seems unfair, but Liverpool under Klopp live for such situations.

In just over six and a half years as Liverpool manager, the German has taken the club to eight major finals (including the Club World Cup — try telling football fans outside Europe that the Club World Cup isn’t a major trophy). They won four of these, lost three, and have one still to play this weekend.

Liverpool are the English league’s European club. Not only because they have six European Cups to their name, but because the city in which they reside is one of England’s most global and cosmopolitan. It often attaches itself to the rest of the world more comfortably than it does to its own country.

Only two clubs have more European Cups than Liverpool — AC Milan, and this weekend’s opponents, Real Madrid.

“I really think the world is either [Real Madrid] white or [Liverpool] red on this particular day,” said Klopp in his pre-match press conference ahead of the final.

“I think there are some people who obviously don't like us too much, and they will support Real Madrid, and there are some people who don't like Madrid too much and they will support us.

“It will be a great game. It’s historically two teams who were always strong in this competition, and now in the present as well, which is a good sign. Competing with this kind of calibre is the best thing you can do.”

Liverpool will have a parade in the city on Sunday which will at least celebrate their domestic cup double this season, but the hope is the team will also have the Champions League trophy on the bus to go alongside them.

Around 750,000 people lined the city’s streets to welcome the team back when they won the Champions League back in 2019. There could be more this time around given the popularity of this legendary team and manager, and their further success since then.

When asked about the parade on Sunday, Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson said: “My full focus is on the game on Saturday and hopefully we can perform, we can do the business in Paris and bring the Champions League trophy back to Liverpool.

“That would be extra special and something that the fans and the team deserve, I feel, but we know it’s never easy.

“It’s going to be really tough and we’ve just got to be fully focused on the game and give everything, like we have all season, and see what happens.”

The most enjoyable thing for fans following Liverpool is revealed in Henderson’s final few words. 

All season, from the cup finals to taking the Premier League to the final day, they have been there, in position, to see what happens. 

More often than not in the 62 games Liverpool have played so far this season, what’s happened has been something pretty good. They now need just one more win to make the final leg of this football ramble, from Paris back to Liverpool, feel the same.