Steven Gerrard admits he knew it was time to leave Liverpool when he was dropped by Brendan Rodgers for the Champions League trip to Real Madrid.
Gerrard will join LA Galaxy this summer after choosing to leave Anfield following 16 years in the first team with his boyhood club.
The former captain's final season saw Liverpool struggle to replicate the previous campaign's form, which took Gerrard desperately close to lifting the Premier League title for the first time. The Reds competed again in the Champions League and it was on one of those European trips early in the season that Gerrard realised it may be time to look for a new challenge.
With Rodgers' side enduring a disappointing start in the Premier League, the manager opted to rest a number of players for the November visit to the Bernabeu to face Real, choosing instead to prioritise the visit of Chelsea the following the Saturday lunchtime.
Gerrard was joined by Jordan Henderson and Raheem Sterling on the bench, where the captain watched on "devastated" as Liverpool lost 1-0. They were also beaten by Chelsea a few days later.
Speaking to Rio Ferdinand for BT Sport, Gerrard said: "This was round about the time when I was doing a lot of thinking about what's next for me because I'd had a couple of initial chats with Brendan saying to me 'I'm going to start managing your games and I have to look after you and I want you to be fresh and I don't want you to be playing three games in a week because you may be tired' and stuff like that.
"But this situation was a bit unique because it was Real Madrid and I wanted to play, and when I was told I wasn't playing, for the sake of the team and the squad and my relationship with Brendan, I took it and I accepted it.
"But I sat on that bench devastated because I wanted to play so, it is one of those situations.
"It sort of pushed me making a decision to move on and try something different."
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