After three decades of waiting, give or take a few months due to a global pandemic, what's another month?
Liverpool emphatically answered that Wednesday, as captain Jordan Henderson lifted the Premier League trophy for the first time in the club's history following Liverpool's 5-3 win over Chelsea at Anfield. Behind closed doors and surrounded only by his teammates, coaches and other approved attendees due to coronavirus-related restrictions, the Reds really began celebrating their first top-flight title in 30 years.
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Few could've envisioned such a scenario on March 7, when Liverpool held a 25-point lead over second-place Manchester City. But the Premier League suspended its season six days later due to the coronavirus, and the Reds wouldn't play another league match for three-and-a-half months due to COVID-19's continued spread in England and around the world.
But Liverpool and the rest of the Premier League returned to the pitch, with no fans in the stands, last month. The Reds took care of business early, clinching the title with seven matches remaining. They became the earliest side (in terms of matches remaining) in Premier League history to clinch, meaning they also had to wait longer than any other winner to finally lift the trophy.
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That calculation, of course, doesn't include the season's delay of three-plus months.
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Six guards of honor and six mostly forgettable matches are hardly interminable, considering the combination comprised just 27 of the 11,041 days since Liverpool last lifted a domestic top-flight trophy.
If the looks on Henderson and his teammates' faces Wednesday were any indication, the extra month didn't make ending Liverpool's long drought any less satisfying.