Arne Slot and his Liverpool players might have been forgiven for raising an eyebrow at what awaited them at the full-time whistle here at Stamford Bridge.
Having slipped to a third defeat of the campaign, this time 3-1 to Champions League-chasing Chelsea, the head coach and his squad will reasonably have expected some more disappointed faces as they made their way towards the away end to applaud their support.
Instead, what greeted them was a set of supporters celebrating even more wildly than those in the home ends.
Plumes of red smoke drifted into the London sky, balloons spelled out champions and the creative and colourful banners were all on show with pride.