Liverpool full-back Andrew Robertson has confessed that he is struggling to take any positives from his side's Champions League final defeat at the hands of Real Madrid.
The Reds fell to a third European Cup final loss on Saturday night as a mixture of goalkeeping howlers and some Gareth Bale brilliance earned Los Blancos a 3-1 win.
Robertson produced a good individual display in Kiev, the highlight being a last-ditch challenge on Cristiano Ronaldo to prevent a certain goal, but he insists that it was always case of win or bust for Liverpool.
"It was an achievement to get here but second is as good as last, in my book," he told reporters after the match. "That's just how I am. I'd rather have had a stinker and we won. I'd rather 10 players turned up and I didn't but we went home with the trophy. That's just the type of person that I am.
"There was just devastation in the changing rooms. We are all so upset. It's just unfortunate. We have been on a good journey but we have just fallen short. Believe me, the lads are gutted. It was a 50/50 chance and unfortunately we never took it.
"We had a chance to be heroes, to make our own history but it wasn't meant to be. We will try and use this as motivation for next season, come back and really work hard. We will try to get off to a flyer. But it will be a long summer, the longest that I have had.
"Not one player should look back [on the season] with disappointment. How many records has Mohamed [Salah] broken? But he will probably look back on it as a disappointment because that's what happens when you get to finals and lose."
English teams have now suffered a defeat in their past seven UEFA club competition finals against Spanish opposition.