Liverpool return to the scene of title capitulation at Selhurst Park

As Liverpool return to the scene of last season’s most sensational match, Brendan Rodgers was keen to put something about it straight ahead of the match.

“That wasn’t the game that cost us,” the Anfield boss sternly said of May’s momentous 3-3 draw at Crystal Palace. “The damage was always done in the Chelsea game.”

That is probably true, and the epic 2-0 defeat to Jose Mourinho’s side may well have decisively diverted Liverpool’s 2013-14 title challenge, but it’s still possible that the remarkable draw at Selhurst Park cost them something else, something bigger. It may well have cost them the chance to bounce back, to challenge for the top four again, let alone the title.

It was not just that a collapse like that came straight after the emotionally exhausting Chelsea defeat. It was that this went to an extreme all its own, so devastatingly and terminally exposing fundamental flaws in Rodgers’ entire setup. They squandered a 3-0 lead as well as a chance to really push the title race to the last day.

Everyone associated with Liverpool will want to forget the night, but the truth is that it fostered so many fearsomely memorable moments.

The real business began with Damien Delaney’s deflected 78th-minute strike, which suggested the game wasn’t quite closed out yet. A ripple went around the tight old stadium, the roar started. “Then everything took off,” as former Palace manager Tony Pulis put it.

Yannick Bolasie certainly took off. His 80th-minute turn and run seemed to open up an entire half of the pitch, and the match itself, while also paralysing Liverpool with fear. Dwight Gayle showed contrasting coolness to score twice, offering such a cacophony of a climax.

As Selhurst Park erupted with delight, Luis Suarez could only attempt to hide his tears as Liverpool’s title hopes faded away.

The Palace crowd reached a crescendo, all in a game that brought the campaign to a dramatic peak.

Rodgers’ side had been consumed by the cauldron of Selhurst Park. Luis Suarez notoriously tried to cover his face with his shirt, but the intensity of his emotion was already too clear.

It was the same with Rodgers. In the press conference after the game, he could only sit there with a rueful and disbelieving smile of utter regret.

“We go top tonight as well, with 81 points with a week to go in the season,” the Liverpool manager said ruefully. “And we sit here devastated.”

That is the deeper problem. That match did not just mean they lost the title, given that Rodgers knew Manchester City would surely win their game in hand before the final day. It was that they lost belief.

Before those last two weeks, Liverpool’s remarkable run-in had almost been powered by an admirable arrogance, a total conviction they could outscore anyone. For their part, it seemed true. They did go and beat a team as free-scoring as City 3-2.

Even after the Chelsea defeat, too, they could at least convince themselves the title could still be won. That seemed the case in the first hour of the match at Selhurst Park, as they battered Palace and 3-0 almost seemed too low a scoreline.

Given the league could still be settled on goal difference, they were going for it. They tried to do it all, but instead lost everything.

That collapse made all the lingering fears about their approach tangible. It made concrete the fact they couldn’t just keep outscoring teams, that there could be a greater consequence. Their greatest strength became their greatest weakness.

It’s difficult not to think it also created a crucial, even if minor, fissure in their belief in the system. Then there’s the traumatic manner in which it all happened, the remarkable scale of events.

That was apparently evident in the dressing room. Those there say that it was “like a morgue,” with the silence only interrupted by Suarez’s inconsolable tears.

It was the ultimate contrast to the raucousness outside. It also led to such a contrast this season.

Liverpool have been so dismally tepid. While that is obviously primarily down to the sale of Suarez and injury to Daniel Sturridge, there’s been an undeniable hangover, delaying Rodgers’ rebuilding process. There just has been that extra limpness, particularly to so many of the supporting cast who were so stellar last season, not least the likes of Jordan Henderson.

Jordan Henderson and the rest of the Liverpool side have yet to live up to the level of play they set a year ago.

Yet, as unforgettable as that match was, the Liverpool manager has somehow failed to remember the main lesson from it.

Liverpool are as atrocious in defence as they were in May. It is stunning Rodgers didn’t even begin to address that during the summer, especially since they are now so underwhelming in attack.

That all adds to the odd symmetry of this fixture.

While last season’s game was the second in a decisive pair of matches for Liverpool, this season’s is the first. The Reds badly need to recover pace in the chase for the top four, and win their first game in four. Then they need to beat Ludogorets on Wednesday to reclaim the initiative in their Champions League group.

If they are as careless as they were in May, it could severely damage both continental pursuits, not least for the potential mental effect. This week could genuinely set their entire season in one direction or the other.

Rodgers must hope the atmosphere actually re-energises his team, who need it.

This week could be big. Even if it is, though, it’s impossible to imagine it will be as momentous as last season.