Sometimes you just have to hold your hands up and admit defeat.
The Reds could hardly have prepared better, and even dominated the game's early stages, but at Wembley on Saturday night Barcelona proved why so many regard them as the best footballing team on the planet.
They're certainly champions of Europe. That much is certain now. Not even Wayne Rooney's first-half equaliser, after Pedro had put the Spanish side ahead, blunted their relentless passing game for long.
And yet there can be no shame in defeat. Not to this Barcelona side, a group of players that will surely go down as one of the most talented sides ever assembled.
This is a team that boasts, arguably, three of the best five players in the world, a side that battered Real Madrid 5-0 earlier this season in a performance that prompted Rooney to stand and applaud in his own living room.
Perhaps in years to come Rooney will admire Barcelona's performance in this match, too. At Wembley on Saturday there was only disappointment, punctuated briefly when he curled home from 15 yards to ignite hope. After that, though, Rooney, like most of his team-mates, struggled to make an impact.
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