As the dust settles on another week of action in the UEFA Champions League, ITV Sport reporter Gabriel Clarke analyses Liverpool's efforts in their disappointing Lyon draw
As one of the senior players in this Liverpool squad, Jamie Carragher has reluctantly been cast in the role of front man during the Reds' current slump.
The longer it goes on the more Carra is to be admired for fronting up to the inquests and the speculation.
Typically he put a brave face on things on Wednesday night, following Lyon's late equaliser at Stade Gerland, a draw which must surely have felt like another defeat.
Carragher and his boss Rafael Benitez are well practised at putting a positive spin on this most worrying descent in Liverpool's fortunes perhaps because failure to emerge from the group stage is frankly unthinkable.
In the immediate aftermath of Lyon's cruel leveller, both stand-in captain and manager preached the need to believe in another near-miracle.
Back inside a silent dressing room reality bit. It took Carragher and his team-mates nearly an hour to emerge from their dressing room.
As they shuffled despondently down the long corridors beneath the Stade Gerland their body language spoke volumes.
One win in eight is not a blip: it's a malaise that seems set to cause serious damage to their prospects both at home and in Europe.
What hurt most for Liverpool on Wednesday night is the fact they did very little wrong in Lyon.
Their preparation was right, they were upbeat - and Rafa's demeanour in his pre-match dealings with the media even bordered on the charismatic.
He's been accused of being too distant and no longer able to motivate his players. Not this week.
In the minutes before kick-off the 'You'll Never Walk Alone' emanated from the dressing room.
At half-time, a loud chorus of pumped-up voices resonated as Rafa got to work, convincing his team that a timid Lyon side were there for the taking. Which, of course, they were.
For weeks there has been talk of the need for the fringe players, the pretenders, to step forward and take on the workload of Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard.
Finally, brilliantly, Ryan Babel demonstrated he does possess genuine match-turning talent with a lightning strike straight from the Gerrard repetoire ... only for Liverpool's new Achilles heel to flare up again.
The current side have lost that defensive solidity, that backbone to close out matches that has defined Rafa's reign especially in Europe.
Babel was denied his long-awaited headline moment and appeared the most angry and despondent of all as the players emerged from their post-match debrief.
The Netherlands international had nothing to say, refusing to comment to even the Dutch media - Liverpool's suffering is major news across Europe.
Ever dignified, his compatriot Dirk Kuyt did have time to reflect on just what a huge impact failing to qualify for the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League will mean financially.
But put aside the economics, put aside the speculation about the manager's position. Kuyt was hurting inside. For every senior Liverpool player this is new territory they never expected to visit.
Representing England's most successful club in Europe and then exiting the Champions League will certainly be a serious blow to the self-esteem of these players - harder to take than a loss in the final or semi-final.
I sense that Kuyt is grappling with the painful fact that this might be a squad waning in its powers. They do need a near-miracle to survive in Europe.
In previous seasons, Liverpool's form in the Champions League has often provided the tonic to inconsistent efforts in the Premier League.
Benitez needs to reverse that trend immediately to prove that the squad that he has built has the necessary quality to compete at the highest level.
Fail to do that and, even at Anfield, there can be only one resolution.
