Ajax vs Liverpool Champions League result, final score and reaction as Reds seal qualification - live
Ajax 0-3 Liverpool: Reds got the point they needed to qualify for the knockout rounds thanks to a comfortable win in Amsterdam
Liverpool overcame a slow start to beat hosts Ajax FC 3-, ensuring a top-two finish in Group A and progress into the knockout stage of the Champions League.
Mohamed Salah put Liverpool ahead against the run of play three minutes before half-time and they then took command after the break with two quick goals from Darwin Nunez and Harvey Elliott to claim a convincing triumph.
The victory kept them three points behind leaders Napoli, who won at home against Rangers in Italy at the same time to make it five out of five in the group.
Napoli will be at Anfield next Tuesday to decide top spot, when Liverpool would need victory by at least 3-0 to edge the Serie A leaders on the head-to-head result between the two after losing 4-1 in Naples in September.
Relive the action as Liverpool beat Ajax in the Champions League:
Ajax vs Liverpool
Liverpool have conceded only one goal in their last six games on Dutch soil – against PSV Eindhoven in December 2008.
Van Dijk on facing Ajax
Virgil van Dijk was on press duties alongside manager Jurgen Klopp this week and he spoke about what he is expecting from tonight’s game.
“Ajax is a fantastic, fantastic club.” said the big centre-back, “Historically as well with the philosophy and the way they play and also the players.
“They don’t have also the best moment, but I know how it can be here on a Champions League night when things go well for them. That’s something we are prepared for.
“We have to match the intensity at least and do even more, so it will be interesting tomorrow. It will be nice and is something we should look forward to.
“ As I said, we shouldn’t forget ourselves how good we are, keep the confidence and try to be consistent again.”
Virgil van Dijk vows to ‘show that we are Liverpool’ against Ajax
Virgil van Dijk has spoken of the desire to “show again that we are Liverpool” when the Reds face Ajax at Johan Cruyff Arena on Wednesday looking to bounce back from their shock loss to Nottingham Forest.
A mixed bag of a season for Jurgen Klopp’s men, in which disappointing away form has been a frequent feature, continued with a 1-0 reverse at promoted Forest on Saturday, six days on from the high of beating Manchester City by the same score at Anfield.
They head into Wednesday’s fixture in Amsterdam looking to secure a place in the last 16 of the Champions League, which will be achieved if they avoid defeat.
Virgil van Dijk vows to ‘show that we are Liverpool’ against Ajax
The Reds head into Wednesday’s fixture in Amsterdam looking to secure a place in the last 16 of the Champions League
Klopp targeting Champions League qualification
Jurgen Klopp says it will be great if his side can secure a spot in the round of 16 by taking at least a point home from Ajax tonight.
"It would be absolutely great [to qualify for the last 16].” said the Liverpool manager,
“After our start in the group stage, it was not that people thought it was likely this would happen, but it happened. Now we have to try to close the group. That’s what we’re here for."
Ajax vs Liverpool team changes
Ajax boss Alfred Schreuder names an unchanged starting XI to the one that defeated RKC Waalwijk 4-1 in the Eredivisie last time out. It’s an attacking team that will be keen to take the game to Liverpool tonight.
Meanwhile, Jurgen Klopp swaps out three players from the Liverpool team that lost 1-0 at the weekend in the Premier League. James Milner, Curtis Jones and Fabio Carvalho are out with Trent Alexander-Arnold, Jordan Henderson and Darwin Nunez all brought back in.
Ajax vs Liverpool line-ups
Ajax XI: Pasveer; Sanchez, Timber, Blind, Bassey; Klassen, Alvarez, Berghuis; Bergwijn, Brobbey, Tadic
Liverpool XI: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, Van Dijk, Robertson; Fabinho, Henderson, Eliott; Salah, Firmino, Nunez
Jurgen Klopp faces a solution to Liverpool’s problems in the spiritual home of 4-3-3
Even the ground is named after the high priest of a footballing formation. When Liverpool visit Amsterdam on Wednesday, they will play in the Johan Cruijff ArenA, the title reflecting both the original and Dutch spelling of his surname and his vast influence. Cruyff is indelibly associated with the concept of total football and the shape of 4-3-3.
Cruyff’s legacy lives on. His disciple Pep Guardiola perhaps played his most Cruyffian version of 4-3-3 with Barcelona and, in the last two seasons, with Manchester City, when the use of a false nine brought the most rotation between players. Jurgen Klopp was a byword for 4-3-3, too, but not in the same way as Guardiola. The Catalan’s wingers are ordered to operate so wide that, at Barcelona, Thierry Henry was famously substituted for coming infield. The German’s wide men were so narrow that they were in effect channel runners, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane becoming so prolific in part because they were charged with operating between the opposition’s full-backs and centre-backs.
They could be strangers to the touchline and if one reason why Klopp’s 4-3-3 broke down this season may have been the tweak to use Salah wider, rendering him less prolific. But a change of system means that Klopp, who reinvented 4-3-3 by getting the full-backs to supply the width, may go to Amsterdam with plan B.
Jurgen Klopp faces a solution to Liverpool’s problems in the spiritual home of 4-3-3
Klopp’s attempts to ‘reinvent’ Liverpool have only been partly successful, but the answer may be clear as the Reds visit Ajax in the Champions League on Wednesday
Ajax vs Liverpool
The Reds are ready to go in Amsterdam and team news will be coming out shortly.
Klopp on defeat to Nottingham Forest
Jurgen Klopp expects his team to play better than they did at the weekend when they lost to Nottingham Forest in the Premier League.
“We were in a good moment until we lost to Nottingham Forest – a strange game with a lot of problems for us.” said the Liverpool boss, “Do I expect us to play better consistently? Yes. Am I ready to make the necessary steps to get there? Yes.”
A lnadmark for Alisson
Brazilian keeper Alisson will make his 200th Liverpool appearance if he plays.
The 30-year-old, who joined the Reds in 2018, has registered 89 clean sheets in 199 league and cup games.
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