Following Manchester City's guilty on 114 charges verdict that was widely reported on Friday, there aren't really any winners. Man City themselves could have titles taken away and be expelled from the top division, while the Premier League's own image is massively tarnished, considering it has been proven that the team who've won eight of the last 15 titles have done so via unfair means.
The list of groups and individuals who have suffered as a result of this period could go on indefinitely. However, one could argue that the biggest losers are Liverpool. The Reds' most successful period of modern times coincided with the height of Pep Guardiola's time at Manchester City, benefiting most directly from the decade of breaking the rules.
So, how different would Liverpool's history be had the Sky Blues not been obfuscating what was really going on, and allowed to pick up trophy after trophy? In short, a lot different!
2009/10: Liverpool finished 7th
At the height of the Hicks and Gillett dissatisfaction at Liverpool, this first season would be largely unaffected. The Reds made next to no progress in the cups and finished seventh, two places and four points below an on the rise Man City. This meant they had to come through two rounds of qualifying to get into the following year's Europa League, but did oust Rabotnički and Trabzonspor.
2010/11: Liverpool finished 6th
Similarly, during Roy Hodgson's ill-fated tenure, Liverpool fell at the first hurdle of both domestic cups and came sixth, climbing up the table following Sir Kenny Dalglish's return in January. The Reds did not qualify for Europe, finishing one spot outside the Europa League places, so here is the first, minor, occasions where Manchester City's spending has cost Liverpool something, albeit far bigger is to follow.
2011/12: Liverpool finished 8th + FA Cup Finalists & League Cup Winners
Under Dalglish for the full season, Liverpool did disastrously come eighth, losing 14 Premier League games, but the campaign was salvaged by their performances in cups. The Red defeated Cardiff on penalties in the Carling Cup Final, overcoming Man City in the semis, before losing to Chelsea in the FA Cup Final. This may have been the first title of the Abu Dhabi-era, but Liverpool were not involved.
2012/13: Liverpool finished 7th
During Brendan Rodgers' first season, alongside an ignominious FA Cup defeat at Oldham Athletic, Liverpool came seventh, again failing to qualify for Europe, but being bumped up one place would not even have changed that.
2013/14: Liverpool finished 2nd
Now all of that preamble is out of the way, we arrive at the heart of the matter. Following many seasons of mediocrity, Rodgers' side put together a title challenge out of nowhere, scoring 101 goals and accumulating 84 points, the most goals the club have ever scored in a top-flight campaign.
However, infamously, the Steven Gerrard slip against Chelsea and Crystanbul, ending an 11 game winning streak, saw them pipped to the post by Man City by just two points. Would Rogers, Gerrard and all his team mates feel better if they were handed this title now? Probably not, but this only increases the bitter taste in the mouth.
2014/15: Liverpool finished 6th
Liverpool fell in the semi-finals of both cup competitions and finished sixth, as the Rodgers era started to fall apart following the sale of Luis Suárez.
2015/16: Liverpool finished 8th + Europa League and League Cup Finalists
As Jürgen Klopp takes charge, Liverpool finished eighth, one spot outside the European places, but also reached two finals. The Reds were beaten by Sevilla in the Europa League Final in Basel and also by Manchester City on penalties in the Capital One Cup Final, so that is a trophy they may be retrospectively awarded.
2016/17: Liverpool finished 4th
As Klopp seriously begins to rebuild this club, the Reds finished fourth, thereby getting back into the Champions League, viewed as a key step in this club re-establishing itself as a contender.
2017/18: Liverpool finished 4th & Champions League Finalists
Klopp's team once again finished fourth, but this campaign is primarily remembered for the Reds' run to the Champions League Final at the NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium in Kyiv. En route, Liverpool famously hammered a seemingly impenetrable Manchester City 5-1 on aggregate, before falling to Real Madrid in Ukraine. This was just the start of them standing up to and competing with Guardiola's team.
Liverpool's subsequent seasons
While Manchester City have only been found guilty of financial doping between 2009 and 2018, do we really think they ended all shady practices there? Also, the success they enjoyed during that period, both tangibly and intangibly, fuelled subsequent triumphs.
Thus, should Liverpool be handed Premier League titles for 2019 and 2022, as well as 2014? One could certainly argue that is the case, but what is not up for debate is that Liverpool's golden era under Klopp is nowhere near as well decorated as it should've been due to proven cheating.
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