Núnez playing on the left, Salah in the centre, Klopp's experiments work

Goals from Mohamed Salah, Uruguay's Darwin Nunez and Harvey Elliott set Liverpool on their way to a 3-0 win at the Johan Cruyff Arena to secure a place in the last 16 of the Champions League. The reigning runners-up, who made an inconsistent start to the competition, will play Napoli for top spot in the group on the final matchday. Ajax are out of the running. The Europa League is their goal now.

The way the game ended, the final score, had nothing to do with the staging where Ajax showed daring and better game management. In fact, they made life difficult for Liverpool in combinations like the one that ended with Steve Berghuis hitting the post with Alisson beaten. After that, Ajax maintained their dominance but without threatening the visitors' goal. Nothing much was happening. Alfred Schreuder's side's dominance gradually waned and Liverpool looked more comfortable.

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The Reds' first goal came at just the right time. On the verge of half-time. It was a blow for Ajax. Jordan Henderson's outside-of-the-foot cross was headed into the net by Mohamed Salah. The second hit Ajax, especially mentally, and they had no time to react. The Dutch side had no time to react and were dealt another blow on the way back from the dressing room. A corner taken by Andy Robertson was headed into the net by Darwin Núñez.

The Uruguayan had already had the chance to score minutes earlier. In a choral move between Salah, Robertson and the South American, in an empty net, crashed against the post. He retaliated with the subsequent header that left the outlook much clearer for Jugen Klopp's side. The third came soon after. Again it came from the boots of Salah, with a through ball to Harvey Elliott who made no mistake against Remko Pasveer. It was the death knell for the game despite there being more than half an hour to go.

Klopp moved his attack

The most striking thing at the start of the game was to see Uruguay's Darwin Nunez out of his normal position in attack, as he was moved to the left flank to provide the cross for Egypt's Mohamed Salah. Although they struggled to adapt in the first few minutes, this new position on the pitch helped to make it 1-0 when Salah appeared alone in front of the goalkeeper after a great pass from Jordan Henderson: ‘We changed system, we had to, thought it made sense, rather a diamond than 433, we didn't want Darwin on the wing so we set up differently’, said Klopp.