Chelsea gave the champions a guard of honour at Stamford Bridge on Sunday afternoon. Their players stood obediently in two lines before the kick-off and clapped as Virgil van Dijk and the rest of the Liverpool team emerged from the tunnel and marched through the middle of them.
For much of the 90 minutes of football that followed, Liverpool returned the favour. They did not actually applaud as Chelsea outplayed them and secured a vital three points in their bid to qualify to play in the Champions League next season but they might as well have done.