Jurgen Klopp admitted that he was astounded by Liverpool's late run of Premier League form which saw the Reds clinch a Champions League berth on the very last day of the season.
Sadio Mane's double took Klopp's men to third place in the standings on Sunday with a 2-0 victory over Crystal Palace, ensuring that a mixed campaign for the defending champions would end on a high.
And while that late surge took its toll on the Merseysiders, the manager was pleasantly surprised with what he has seen in the final stretch of 2020-21.
What was said?
"Outstanding, best I could've dreamt of - we wanted this feeling, this game, this atmosphere," Klopp beamed to BBC Radio 5 Live .
"Finishing the season in third is incredible, I can't believe it - credit to the boys, I can't believe how it worked out in the last few weeks, incredible.
"Rhys Williams and Nat Phillips are both cut up and stitched, Rhys hasn't trained for three days, Gini Wijnaldum leaving the club and we all love him to bits.
"We will miss him so much, with football it's normal that people leave, but I will miss him so much."
Klopp also had some kind words for his opposite number on Sunday, as Palace boss Roy Hodgson draws the curtain on his long, accomplished career on the bench.
"Roy is a legend as well, very influential and important for football," he added.
"[He] travelled the world managing, saw very early how defending really has to work and kept that up through his career, exceptional."
The bigger picture
While on the surface third place might seem like a consolation prize for last year's runaway champions, at one point in the season Liverpool feared a far more modest finish to their defence.
A hideous run of injuries, particularly in defence where the likes of Virgil van Dijk, Joel Matip and Joe Gomez were all ruled out with serious physical problems, put a big dent in their Premier League aspirations, and as recently as the start of March Klopp's charges languished down in eighth place.
But they responded with eight wins and two draws in their last 10 league games to climb back up into contention, finally sealing Champions League football at Leicester City's expense as the FA Cup holders went down to Tottenham.