Ajax vs Rangers LIVE: Champions League result, final score and reaction as Ajax notch comfortable win

63 mins: Ajax are up over 76% possession. It’s been a very one-sided game and now the home players are putting on a bit of a show for their fans.

Close! Mohammed Kudus shimmies and dribbles his way through the Rangers defence. McLaughlin closes him down and blocks the shot from close range before Leon King boots the ball away.

60 mins: Ajax win a corner that Tadic slides into Kenneth Taylor. He swings a cross into the middle of the box but Rangers head it clear.

John Lundstram has dropped back as a third centre-half and Leon King has taken over from James Tavernier wide on the right of the Rangers defence.

57 mins: Steven Bergwijn bombs down the left wing and brings the ball inside before laying it off to Kudus. Ajax look as though they want to flood the box but Kudus sends the ball back and they retreat.

54 mins: Borna Barisic swings another Rangers free kick into the penalty area and finds James Sands who seems determined to make up for his earlier deflection.

His header loops towards goal and drops safely into the hands of Remko Pasveer. The whistle then goes for a foul in the build up and Ajax have a free kick of their own.

51 mins: Rangers are already seeing more of the ball but Ajax’s tempo has slowed way down. They’re content to kept hold of the ball and knock it around into space.

48 mins: Rabbi Matondo gets stuck in straight away and wins a free kick over on the right side of the pitch, inside Ajax’s half. Borna Barisic floats the set piece into the middle and finds James Sands who’s difficult headed effort glances wide of goal.

Kick off: The home side get the match back underway. Giovanni van Bronckhorst has made three changes at half-time. James Tavernier, Scott Wright and Malik Tillman are all hooked with Ryan Jack, Rabbi Matondo and Leon King all brought on.

Napoli XI: Meret, Di Lorenzo, Kim, Rrahmani, Olivera, Politano, Lobotka, Zambo Anguissa, Kvaratshhelia, Zielinski, Osimhen

Liverpool XI: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, Van Dijk, Robertson, Milner, Fabinho, Elliott, Salah, Firmino, Diaz

One way traffic in Amsterdam as Ajax have romped into a three goal lead against Rangers. Will they add to their tally in the second half?

“Where’s it next season? Istanbul? Book the hotel.” Jurgen Klopp’s response to defeat in May’s Champions League final may have done wonders for Turkey’s tourism industry but it also showed much about his psychology. Klopp tends to turn a negative into a positive. In the process, he can feel prophetic.

The morning after his previous Champions League final loss to Real Madrid, in 2018, he wondered at Kyiv airport if Liverpool would return to such a stage 12 months later. They duly did, winning in 2019. Liverpool can now hope history repeats itself again, that a brush with glory one year will be followed by an embrace the next.

Klopp can excel at engendering optimism but there were few reasons for happiness on an awful night in Paris. Certainly not for the supporters who were mistreated by French police, whose failings were compounded by Uefa’s, and for whom Wednesday’s trip to Naples, with its own reputation for intimidation, scarcely represented an ideal return to Europe.

On the field, Liverpool could have other reasons for regret: in 2018, they plotted a highly entertaining path around Europe, scoring goals galore but, as they finished 25 points behind Manchester City, they were not the continent’s outstanding team. They entered the final as underdogs.