Liverpool 'feels great' again after last-16 lift

AMSTERDAM — Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said on Wednesday he is hoping the 3-0 win over Ajax to progress to the last 16 of the Champions League can help lift his side's sluggish Premier League form.

The Reds have now won as many Champions League games this season as they have in 11 Premier League matches after their fourth consecutive European win in Amsterdam.

Mo Salah, Darwin Nunez and Harvey Elliott were on target as the Reds reached the knockout stage for a sixth consecutive season.

"We are through to the knockouts and I will never take that for granted," said Klopp.

"Really helpful for the club, of course it gives the lift. Tonight we all feel great and we have a few days to prepare for Leeds."

Klopp's men still have a mountain to climb next week when Napoli visits Anfield if they are to finish top of Group A.

Liverpool trails the Italian side by three points and needs to better Napoli's 4-1 win when the teams met last month to get the better of the head-to-head record.

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk thought it was a good night's work.

"In the end we won 3-0, progressed to the next round and kept a clean sheet," he told Dutch TV station RTL7.

Defeat ends Ajax's chances of reaching the next round and the Dutch champion was left to rue not taking advantage of a fast start as it flew out of the traps.

Steven Berghuis should have opened the scoring after just two minutes when he fired against the post with just Alisson Becker to beat.

Berghuis then shot narrowly wide and Dusan Tadic should have done better when he blasted into the body of Trent Alexander-Arnold at the back post.

Liverpool's contrasting form between domestic and European action is reflected in Salah's scoring record.

Of the Egyptian's nine goals this season, six have come in the Champions League and he produced a cool finish over Remko Pasveer from Jordan Henderson's through-ball to settle Liverpool's nerves.

"Sensational pass from Hendo, then Mo's finishing is outstanding," Klopp said of the goal.

The visitor should have been out of sight before halftime but for an astonishing miss from Nunez, who hit the post with the goal gaping from Roberto Firmino's unselfish pass.

Nunez has had a roller-coaster start to his career with the Reds after a 75-million-euro ($74 million) move from Benfica and he quickly made amends after the break.

The Uruguayan rose highest to power Andy Robertson's corner in off the far post on 49 minutes.

"Darwin was really angry with himself at halftime," said Robertson. "I sat next to him at halftime and told him I would put a cross in to his head for him to score."

Three minutes later, Liverpool was cruising when Salah picked out the run of Elliott, who fired high past Pasveer from a narrow angle.

Klopp pointed much of the blame for his side's lack of consistency in the opening months of the season to a catalogue of injuries.

And with another five games to come before the World Cup break next month, a commanding lead meant the visitor could take its foot off the gas in the final half an hour, with Nunez, Fabinho and Henderson among those handed a rest by Klopp.

Napoli extends streak

Giovanni Simeone made sure that Napoli maintained top spot in Group A on Wednesday with a double in his team's comfortable 3-0 win over Rangers.

Luciano Spalletti's side extended its all-competitions winning streak to a club-record 12 matches thanks to Simeone's classy finishes in five first-half minutes and a late Leo Ostigard header.

Simeone is one of just two Argentines to have scored four goals in his first four Champions League matches, the other being his father Diego, who suffered a painful elimination with Atletico Madrid while Napoli strolled past the Scots.

Wednesday's match was only Simeone's second start of the season as he battles with Italy international Giacomo Raspadori and Victor Osimhen for the striker's berth in a team which has now scored 46 goals in Serie A and Europe.

"I always look to give everything, today we played really well," Simeone told Sky in Italy.

" (Spalletti) gave me freedom to be myself, attack the space ... I'm always available when the coach asks me to be there. I'll always look to help the team."

Rangers are stuck on zero points after their fifth straight defeat in the competition and can only make it into the Europa League if they manage the highly unlikely feat of beating Ajax by five goals in Glasgow.

Reflecting on the Scottish side's humbling experience in the Champions League so far, Rangers manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst said: "You can't imagine the opponents we are facing in this group. The level is immense ... we have to be realistic."

AFP