Jurgen Klopp has said Liverpool were the only Premier League club that stopped Manchester City once from winning the title.
The Reds ended a 30-year wait for the trophy in 2020, finishing 18 points ahead of City.
However, they have finished second behind Pep Guardiola’s men two seasons in a row after then.
Liverpool finished fifth last year and third this season, despite fighting for the title along with Arsenal.
Klopp, speaking to the players in the dressing room after his farewell, said: “Coming third, I don’t even know yet who became champion,” to which a voice replied “City”.
The German continued: “Well, the only ones who stopped them were us [in 2019-20], and you can do that again.
“There might be some people who say [third place] is not enough – I tell you, they don’t have a clue about football.
“Could we have had better moments? Yes, of course, that’s always possible. But did we do better than you can usually expect? Oh yes, because it takes longer to become a top team again.
“And you did that [clicks] like this and that’s why expectations go [up gesture] like this and then we couldn’t keep the pace. That’s the problem a little bit.”
EPL: Klopp names only team that stopped Man City from becoming champions
