Can you transform The Nearly Men? It’s a question Jurgen Klopp will have been asked when Liverpool’s owners made a beeline to recruit him last October.

And it is a question they will have asked with good reason. When they bought Liverpool in October 2010, Fenway Sports Group declared that their intention was not just to win once but ‘to keeping winning’ and uphold the club’s past tradition.

So far, they have been unable to deliver on that promise. Liverpool’s financial affairs have dramatically improved under FSG but the long held belief they would oversee a period of the club gathering cups in May has disappeared.

Villarreal players celebrate wildly after Adrian Lopez netted a stoppage-time winner against Liverpool 

Liverpool winger Jordon Ibe cuts a dejected figure after the Merseysiders conceded an injury time goal

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp roars at his players as he attempts to guide his men to the Europa League final

This, to date, has been an ownership period in which Liverpool have been unable to make a compelling final step; a number of times they have manoeuvred themselves into a promising position but, more often than not, they have faltered when it matters most.

‘When I look at the timeline, there have been some improvement,’ Tom Werner, Liverpool’s Chairman, said after Klopp was unveiled. ‘We came into this project with great ambition. Until we win more trophies, we won’t be satisfied.’

The last time they reached such an advanced stage of European competition, in April 2010, the atmosphere around the club was toxic; the threat of financial combustion under the doomed reign of Tom Hicks and George Gillett was real and the squad was horribly bereft of quality.

To jog your memory, David N’Gog – once voted into a list of the Premier League’s worst ever strikers – led the attack and was replaced by Nabil El Zhar, a Moroccan journeyman. Liverpool were toothless in that first leg against Atletico Madrid and eventually tumbled out on away goals.

Villarreal supporters pay their respects to the 96 Hillsborough victims with a large yellow banner

That defeat brought an era to a crashing halt. Success in Europe under Rafa Benitez had almost been taken for granted and looking back on the first 10 years of this century, Liverpool supporters may not appreciate how well they had it.

Think about it: during that decade, Liverpool won four European trophies – a pair of Super Cups to sit alongside the Champions League and UEFA Cup – not to mention two FA Cups and the League Cup twice. There were also two Community Shields. They don’t count? Tell that to Jose Mourinho.

So that’s 10 trophies in 10 years. Compared to Manchester United (16), Arsenal (seven) and Chelsea (12) in the same period, the total is extremely healthy but since then, the final hurdle has been the one to spell danger, the one most likely to see them thrown into the turf.

Reds playmaker Philippe Coutinho attempts to block a forward ball from Villarreal defender Juame Costa

Other than the League Cup in 2012, this decade has been one of angst; two finals have been lost – the most recent against Manchester City in February – so have two semi-finals and it is almost two years to the day since Liverpool went from the brink of the title to the emptiness of second place.

You can see, then, why so much was at stake in an industrial city whose biggest claim to fame is its production of Porcelanosa ceramics. This is not one of Europe’s most charming venues but its significance for Klopp and Liverpool was huge.

Put simply, the Europa League has given Liverpool’s season purpose and momentum and it has been responsible for sparking a run of form that, until tonight, has seen them lose only one of their last 18 matches in all competitions. Without it, things would have simply fizzled out.

Liverpool midfielder Adam Lallana is challenged for the ball during Thursday’s Europa League clash in Spain

Borussia Dortmund, of course, is the standout memory but what of the last 16 clash with Manchester United? An elimination at the hands of their most bitter rivals would have guaranteed a meandering end to the campaign but it was effectively the tinder-lighting spark.

Now, though, they find themselves back in a familiar situation. Adrian Lopez’s injury time strike makes next week’s second leg at Anfield horribly problematic and Liverpool will require a performance every bit as explosive as the one that toppled Dortmund to progress.

The only solace Klopp will take is that one goal is not insurmountable. Liverpool remain 90 minutes from the Europa League final but the moment has arrived for The Nearly Men to rid themselves of that irritating tag. They need to leap over that last hurdle.