Football is littered with fascinating sliding doors moments and 'what ifs.'
Try this one - what if Carlo Ancelotti had been appointed manager of Liverpool in the autumn of 2015 instead of Jurgen Klopp? Would the Reds have enjoyed such a successful few years?
Given the Italian's outstanding record of delivering silverware at every club he's managed, you'd have to say there was a fair chance of him winning something.
But would Ancelotti have done such an excellent job of building Liverpool up from the relative low point they found themselves in back then to the irresistible force they are today? Probably not.
Ancelotti isn't a process manager. He likes to inherit a squad that is already at a certain level and has experience rather than take on a project from scratch. But he is very good at taking them to the next level.
Anfield chiefs sounded Ancelotti out to succeed Brendan Rodgers in 2015 - he was between posts at Real Madrid and Bayern Munich - and the Italian had previously made no secret of his affection for Liverpool.
When Real Madrid played there in the 2014-15 Champions League, he said: 'I've followed Liverpool since 1984 after facing them with Roma in the European Cup final, when we lost on penalties.
'It's always been a club that excites me. The 'You'll Never Walk Alone' they sing is incredible. Nobody sings an anthem like Liverpool fans.
'Sometimes I look for it on the internet and put it on for my friends. It's something really unique.'
He had his picture taken pointing to the famous 'This is Anfield' sign when Real played there and posted on his Instagram about how iconic the stadium was.
Alas, Ancelotti has always found himself in opposition to Liverpool and will be again this Saturday when the Real Madrid boss faces them for the third time in a Champions League final.
The 62-year-old has faced them with five different clubs as a manager - AC Milan, Real and Napoli in European competition plus Chelsea and Everton in the Premier League.
Even in the future, should the Anfield job become vacant, Ancelotti appears to have ruled himself out by declaring 'I am still an Evertonian' ahead of this weekend's final.
If Real win in the Stade de France on Saturday night, Ancelotti will become the first manager to conquer Europe four times, moving ahead of the three victories claimed by Bob Paisley and Zinedine Zidane.
In so doing, he may finally exorcise the ghosts of Istanbul in 2005, when his Milan team surrendered a three-goal lead to ultimately lose on penalties to Rafa Benitez's Liverpool.
Ancelotti has never been able to watch that collapse back again and when he references it, you get the impression that final still haunts his dreams.
Back in March, with his Real team 10 points clear at the top of LaLiga, he refused to accept they were out of reach in the title race.
'Just like you lose a Champions League final when you're winning 3-0,' he said. 'It's already happened.'
Not even Athens in 2007, when Milan gained their revenge on Liverpool with a 2-1 win in the Champions League final, could fully atone for the horror of Istanbul.
When Ancelotti came to Chelsea in 2009, encounters with Liverpool inevitably became more common.
In the title-winning 2009-10 campaign, Ancelotti's Blues beat Liverpool 2-0 at home and then also 2-0 at Anfield on the penultimate weekend, goals from Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard keeping their noses in front of Man United going into the final day.
The tables were turned in Ancelotti's far less successful second season when Liverpool beat Chelsea 2-0 at Anfield and 1-0 at Stamford Bridge.
Ancelotti's next encounter with Liverpool was those aforementioned 2014-15 Champions League group games.
He may have enjoyed Anfield's pre-match rendition of 'You'll Never Walk Alone' but his players were in a ruthless mood with a goal by Cristiano Ronaldo and two more by Karim Benzema - all before half-time - sealing a 3-0 win.
Real also won the return match on home turf as Liverpool were sent sliding out into the Europa League.
Ancelotti was only in charge at Napoli for a season-and-a-half but, remarkably, this included four Champions League meetings with Liverpool.
They were drawn together in the group stage in consecutive seasons. In 2018-19, Liverpool's 1-0 home win over Napoli on matchday six sent them through by virtue of more goals scored after they finished level on nine points.
In the 2019-20 campaign, Napoli took four points off Liverpool yet still finished a point behind them in the final standings.
When Ancelotti came to Everton a few days later, his rivalry with the Reds became a whole lot more intimate.
One of his very first games in charge at Goodison was a 1-0 loss at Anfield in the third round of the FA Cup. During Project Restart, they played out a goalless draw but that barely put a dent in Liverpool's title charge.
Last season, Everton achieved some of their best results in the derby for many years.
There was a fiery early season 2-2 draw at Goodison best remembered for Jordan Pickford's wild tackle on Virgil van Dijk that put the defender out for the remainder of the season.
And then in February, amid a torrid run of Liverpool form at home, Everton claimed their first win at Anfield since 1999.
Which takes us to this weekend and Ancelotti's 17th meeting with Liverpool as a manager. There have been memorable victories and the most crushing of defeats along the way.
This Saturday offers Ancelotti the chance to banish some demons once and for all.