Mohamed Salah continued his Champions League scoring run as Liverpool sealed their place in the knockout stages with a 3-0 triumph at Ajax.

Jurgen Klopp has now progressed from six consecutive group stages in the competition with Liverpool, a club-record run, after the Reds dominated on Wednesday in Amsterdam.

Salah scored his sixth goal in his last four Champions League games with a 42nd-minute opener, before Darwin Nunez and Harvey Elliott added quickfire second-half finishes to seal victory.

Ajax will drop into the Europa League by avoiding a resounding defeat at winless Rangers on matchday six, while Liverpool must beat leaders Napoli by an unlikely four goals to win Group A.

Ajax should have taken a third-minute lead but Steven Berghuis struck a gilt-edged opportunity against the right post, with the midfielder curling narrowly wide shortly after.

A resolute Liverpool continued with their backs against the wall before Andy Robertson smashed a rare Reds chance just off target, but Klopp's visitors soon hit the front.

Jordan Henderson delicately chipped through for Salah to neatly lift over the onrushing Remko Pasveer, before Nunez inexplicably smashed the left post with the goal gaping two minutes later.

Nunez made amends after the interval, heading Robertson's corner in off the right post before Elliott fired into the roof of the net two minutes later.

Substitute Kenneth Taylor blasted a presentable opportunity over after the hour mark, though Ajax never threatened an unlikely comeback.

What does it mean? Reds continue Ajax hot streak to qualify with ease

Underwhelming returns in the Premier League thus far have led to scrutiny for Liverpool, though the Reds emphatically delivered in what was their 150th match in the Champions League.

Klopp will take encouragement from the Reds' fourth straight victory in the competition over Ajax – only Real Madrid (seven) have managed a longer such streak – leaving Alfred Schreuder with much to ponder.

Ajax, whose first-half dominance failed to pay dividends, will likely settle for a Europa League place after falling to a seventh loss in nine home games against English sides in Europe.

Super Salah

Salah may be yet to hit his usual heights in the Premier League, but the forward collected his 42nd goal in the Champions League – only Didier Drogba (44) has more among African players.

The Egypt international presented a constant threat on the right flank, scoring in a fourth straight game in the competition for just the second time, as well as assisting Elliott for the third goal.

Bad from Berghuis

Berghuis was left to rue his two early missed chances, the first of those a routine finish that the midfielder would have been expected to slot past Alisson and into the back of the net. 

Those errant efforts summarised a frustrating outing for Ajax, who started in dominant fashion but faded away rapidly after Salah's first-half opener.

What's next?

Liverpool host Premier League strugglers Leeds United on Sunday, while Ajax are not in action until their final Champions League game at Rangers on Tuesday.

Netherlands boss Louis van Gaal is doubtful that Memphis Depay and Steven Berghuis will be fit enough for Sunday's Nations League Group A4 decider against Belgium.

The Oranje cemented their position as group leaders on Thursday with a 2-0 win over Poland thanks to goals in each half from Cody Gakpo and Steven Bergwijn.

That result means they only need to avoid defeat to Roberto Martinez's side to progress to the Finals next June.

Berghuis replaced the injured Teun Koopmeiners inside the opening five minutes at the PGE Narodowy in Warsaw, but the forward was later withdrawn for Kenneth Taylor, while Depay limped off in the 52nd minute to be replaced by Vincent Janssen.

Van Gaal had good news on Koopmeiners' condition, but the Netherlands boss was not optimistic about Depay and Begrhuis' chances of featuring against the Red Devils.

"I understand that Teun was already feeling a bit better, and I replaced Frenkie [de Jong] as a precaution. He had some tension on the muscles, but he expects to play, and he knows his own body," Van Gaal told NOS. 

"I don't think Memphis will play on Sunday and neither will Berghuis. It's a back injury and that usually lasts longer than a few days."

Gakpo, who was linked with a move to the Premier League during the transfer window, has started the season in fine form for PSV, scoring eight goals in seven Eredivisie games.

The 23-year-old continued his momentum on the international stage as well, stroking home his third goal for his country early on.

He played in a more central role than he is accustomed to at club level, and Van Gaal believes that is where his future might lay.

"I thought that Gakpo performed his duties well both in possession and out of possession," the head coach added.

"It was a good lesson for him and a good development. He wanted to play from the left, but for me, he has everything to become a good 10.

"He scored again, that's also important. It was a world-class goal. I jumped off the bench too. I don't normally do that. It was a top goal."

Ajax blew away Rangers with three first-half goals as the Dutch giants kicked off their Champions League campaign with a resounding 4-0 victory in Amsterdam on Wednesday.

Edson Alvarez, Steven Berghuis and Mohammed Kudus were all on target inside 33 minutes, with that Ajax's earliest three-goal lead in the competition's history.

Rangers, also beaten 4-0 by rivals Celtic at the weekend, made a triple substitution at the break but Ajax showed no remorse and added a late fourth through Steven Bergwijn.

Ajax were dominant from the first whistle and there was a sense of inevitably about their opener when an unmarked Alvarez headed in Dusan Tadic's in-swinging corner.

Berghuis added a somewhat fortunate second for Ajax, the Netherlands winger's strike taking a big deflection off James Sands on its way past Jon McLaughlin.

A quickfire third followed as Kudus was allowed to charge into the box and fire a stunning shot across McLaughlin and into the top-far corner.

Rangers had a Borna Barisic strike chalked off for offside, and Ajax only added to their opponents' pain thanks to Bergwijn's finish following a terrible pass from Ryan Jack.

Erik ten Hag hailed Ajax after the Eredivisie giants made it three wins from three games in the Champions League thanks to a stunning 4-0 rout of Borussia Dortmund.

Ajax produced a merciless performance in Amsterdam, where Dusan Tadic's free-kick deflected off Marco Reus to set the tone before Daley Blind, Antony and Sebastien Haller also scored in Tuesday's rout.

With the Dortmund demolition, Ajax have now won their opening three Champions League matches in a season for the first time since 1995-96, when they went on to reach the final, losing to Juventus on penalties.

Ajax have also scored 11 goals through three matchdays, their most at this stage of a European Cup/Champions League campaign since scoring 26 times in their first three games in the 1979-80 season.

"Of course I'm incredibly proud of my team," Ajax head coach Ten Hag told Amazon Prime. "We produced a fantastic performance and played some incredible football.

"When two teams with this philosophy want to attack like that then it becomes an open shoot-out, which we won tonight."

Ajax condemned Dortmund to their heaviest defeat in European competition since losing 4-0 to Sochaux in the UEFA Cup in November 2003, while it was the Bundesliga side's heaviest ever defeat in the European Cup/Champions League.

Ten Hag added: "Being good in possession was one of our first priorities tonight. My players were exceptional in that regard and created a lot of chances.

"What pleased me most though was the way we pressed. I'm happy that we won and that we won with fantastic football, but there are three games to go."

Haller, meanwhile, became the first African player to score in their first three Champions League appearances since Didier Drogba in 2003 – the Ivorian has six goals and two assists in his three games so far for Ajax.

He also equalled the Ajax record for scoring in consecutive Champions League matches, following in the footsteps of Patrick Kluivert (1995), Jari Litmanen (1996) and team-mate Tadic (2018).

As for man-of-the-match Blind, he scored his first goal in the Champions League since his strike for Manchester United against Benfica in October 2017.

It was his first for Ajax in the competition and came 29 years and 347 days since his father Danny Blind scored his last goal in UEFA European competition for Ajax, against FC Rot-Weiss Erfurt in the UEFA Cup in November 1991.

"We were very good on the ball in the first half," Ajax attacker Steven Berghuis told RTL 7. "We created so many chances, we combined well, and had depth in our game.

"We made sure not to lose the ball quickly, because then you play into their hands. Instead we kept the ball for long periods, and that weakens them."

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