Ajax vs Rangers LIVE: Champions League result, final score and reaction as Ajax notch comfortable win
Ajax 4-0 Rangers: Gers lose heavily in their first Champions League match in 12 years
Ajax built a commanding early lead before overwhelming Rangers 4-0 in Champions League Group A at the Johan Cruyff Arena.
Edson Alvarez, Steven Berghuis and Mohammed Kudus scored in a one-sided first half and Steven Bergwijn added the fourth 10 minutes from time to complete the rout.
It was a dominant display from a new-look Ajax, who sold several key players over the summer, and lost head coach Erik ten Hag to Manchester United, but still proved far too strong for the Scottish side - last season’s Europa League runners-up.
Borna Barisic did have a goal disallowed for the Gers after an offside in the build-up but they were largely outclassed.
Relive all the action as Ajax beat Rangers in the Champions League:
Ajax vs Rangers line-ups
Ajax XI: Pasveer, Rensch, J Timber, Bassey, Blind, Taylor, Alvarez, Berghuis, Tadic, Kudus, Bergwijn
Rangers XI: McLaughlin, Tavernier, Goldson, Sands, Barisic, Wright, Lundstram, Tillman, Kamara, Kent, Colak
A danger sign for Rangers?
Ajax have won their opening match in three of their last four Champions League campaigns with all three victories coming by at least a three-goal margin.
Will Rangers suffer a similar fate tonight?
Klopp on Liverpool’s injuries
"Arthur [Melo] just needs football now, training especially, that’s how it is," said Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp ahead of their Champions League opener with Napoli.
"Can he play minutes? Yes. Should he play a full game? No, because he needs to get used to the intensity in each competition.
"It’s not like the Champions League is like you have to work less than the Premier League. He’s doing well, he’s really giving his absolute all in training. We have to be careful with him as well and then we will see when we can use him.
"Thiago is back in training. It means he is ready. For how long we will see. Hendo, we had the results of the scan and it will be after the international break, I think, he will be back."
Napoli vs Liverpool early team news
Liverpool will be without injured captain Jordan Henderson for their opening Champions League Group A trip to Napoli on Wednesday as their midfield options continue to dwindle.
Fabio Carvalho, Curtis Jones, Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain are also unavailable for the Reds so new signing Arthur Melo is expected to feature.
There is positive news though as Thiago Alcantara is set to make his first appearance for a month after recovering from an injury of his own.
For Napoli winger Hirving Lozano and forward Victor Osimhen could be available after returning to training which will give the home side a strengthened attacking edge.
Van Bronckhorst backing McLaughlin
Rangers manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst has hinted that he will stick with goalkeeper Jon McLaughlin against Ajax this evening despite criticism in the goalkeeper following Rangers’ bruising 4-0 Old Firm defeat at the weekend.
"Many things went wrong," said the Rangers boss, "So I could change everything from Saturday and play with a different team, different tactics. But I think you have to keep hold of your way of playing.
"You keep trusting your players and give them confidence because in the past we have bounced back from heavy defeats and that’s what we have to do tomorrow as well."
He added: "I’ve spoken with Jon and I’ve spoken with the team about how we played, the way we conceded goals and how we need to improve, what went wrong.
"It’s a normal process. You cannot change every time you have a defeat. You cannot change everything because you have to stick to your beliefs and your way of playing.
"The execution we had on Saturday was below par - far below par. That’s what I want to see different."
Giovanni Van Bronckhorst confident in rattled Rangers squad ahead of Ajax tie
Giovanni Van Bronckhorst backed his rattled Rangers squad ahead of their opening Champions League Group A fixture against Ajax on Wednesday night.
There was some criticism when the Gers boss did not add to his group in the latter stages of the transfer window, after bringing in seven players earlier and that surfaced again at the weekend following their trouncing by Celtic.
A horror show at Parkhead saw the Light Blues lose 4-0 to leave them trailing the champions by five points at the top of the cinch Premiership after only six fixtures.
Giovanni Van Bronckhorst confident in rattled Rangers squad ahead of Ajax tie
There was some criticism when the Gers boss did not add to his group in the latter stages of the transfer window.
Rangers early team news
Forward Alfredo Morelos is in contention for Rangers after coming on as a substitute in Saturday’s Old Firm defeat to Celtic but Tom Lawrence, John Souttar, Kemar Roofe, Filip Helander and Ianis Hagi remain unavailable for the Scottish side.
Ajax vs Rangers
Hello and welcome to The Independent’s coverage of tonight’s Champions League action.
First up, Rangers return to the top tier of European football for the first time in 12 years as they travel to Amsterdam to take on the Eredivisie champions Ajax. The Scottish side needed to make their way through the qualifying rounds to reach this stage after they lost the 2021/22 Europa League final to Eintracht Frankfurt.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s men defeated Union Saint-Gilloise and PSV Eindhoven to make it into the Champions League but they face a very difficult time of things in a group that also includes Napoli and Liverpool.
Those two teams go head-to-head with each other later on tonight with the Reds looking to get off to a winning start. Under Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool have lost both matches at the Diego Armando Maradona stadium as well as being held to a 1-1 draw with the Italian side at Anfield back in 2019.
Will it be fourth time lucky for the Reds?
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