As Brendan Rodgers prowled the Wembley technical area watching his Liverpool side lose to Aston Villa in the FA Cup semi-final in 2015, he could not have guessed he would go five more years without losing in a domestic knockout tie.
That run, across England and Scotland, is at 30 games and the Leicester boss is aiming for 31 on Wednesday night in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final, once again against Villa.
It is 20 years since Leicester last won a knockout competition — the League Cup under Martin O’Neill, beating Villa in the semis and Tranmere in the final.
Rodgers’ men are already punching above their weight, lying second in the Premier League table, and will play as strong a side as possible tonight, including Jamie Vardy, who returns from a calf injury.
‘We don’t want to be known just as that team who won the League that year (2016) and that’s it,’ said Rodgers. ‘We said to the players who were here before I arrived and the players who are here now: we want to look back in 30 years and see a period of sustained success.
‘Can we develop over the coming years to be a team who get Champions League football, who can win something and see if we can sustain it; to look back at this era and say it was a really good team and have something to show for it.’
Villa have their own cup drought to break. Their last trophy was the 1996 League Cup and boss Dean Smith is desperate to restore the good times.
‘Our job is to create history,’ he said. ‘At the moment the Premier League is a tough battle, but we believe we’ve got enough to come through that, and there is an opportunity now to get through to a cup semi-final.
‘They don’t come along very often. There are some really tough teams out there with a lot more resources than we have.
‘What we are trying to do is establish ourselves as a Premier League team, to become one of those teams with the resources of the Manchesters, Liverpools and Chelseas.’
When Rodgers’ Liverpool lost to Villa in 2015, it was largely down to an inspired Jack Grealish, who will once more be in the opposition ranks tonight.
And while the Leicester boss has been telling his players to keep calm and not allow the stature of the fixture to freeze minds and legs, he is sure to have discussed how to deal with the Villa talisman.
‘I came away that day thinking, “What a player that boy is”,’ said Rodgers. ‘You are playing at Wembley with about 90,000 and he really stood out that day. He was drifting in and he showed he had the personality to play on the big stage. I always knew him as a talent but I thought in that game he had the ability to play on the big stage and he was outstanding.
‘I love players with swagger — as long as they work. To be fair to Jack, you have seen the maturity in him. It was difficult when he broke through, because he was playing for his home-town club, the club he loves, so there was real emotion around it.
‘After they got relegated he took on greater responsibility, showed a leadership role with the club and has helped bring them back up. He has matured a lot since that time. He is a wonderful player.’
Rodgers went from that Liverpool disappointment to a silverware-laden time at Celtic which was kicked off by winning the Scottish League Cup.
He said: ‘I was honoured and privileged that my first trophy was the 100th for Celtic. But winning trophies is not going to change my life. I sometimes felt a bit embarrassed at Celtic with all the trophies, going up on the stage. I’d be trying to go round the back, out of the way, because the job is done and it’s for the players, for the supporters, for everyone.’