Here is your Liverpool morning digest for Thursday, October 27.
Huge Liverpool question emerges after Champions League feat
In this trying, testing season, the first real achievement available to Jurgen Klopp is at least now secure: Liverpool's name will be in the hat when the draw for the last 16 of the Champions League is made on November 7, writes Paul Gorst.
If the Reds' early season troubles have probably left them fighting only for the secondary prize of a top-four place on the domestic front, their continental conquests have kept the primary ambition burning in Europe.
For the sixth successive season, Klopp's side will contest the knockout phases after a 3-0 win here at the Johan Cruyff ArenA against Ajax ensured their European adventure will extend into 2023.
READ MORE: Liverpool player ratings as Mohamed Salah and one other excellent in win at Ajax
READ MORE: Liverpool potential Champions League last-16 opponents after Ajax win
That sort of achievement has been considered routine in recent years given it's a checkpoint that has been so regularly passed under Klopp's guidance, but few things can be taken for granted this time out as the manager continues to grapple with the problems that are, at times, overpowering his injury-hit and sporadically out-of-form team.
And while an erratic Liverpool are just as capable of beating Manchester City as they are of losing to Nottingham Forest right now, the European Cup has provided refuge and a platform for more consistent results and performances to be built.
Crucially, it also eases the pressure of a potential must-win when one of the tournament’s most in-form sides visit Anfield next week in Luciano Spalletti's Napoli; a team Liverpool will fortunately be spared of when the first round of the two-legged ties are drawn.
READ THE FULL STORY HERE.
Darwin Nunez shows class with two moments vs Ajax
It was the kind of miss that has so often prompted strikers to retreat into their shell and vanish without a trace, writes Ian Doyle.
But then nobody has accused Darwin Nunez of being a shrinking violet.
With Liverpool having not long taken the lead in this pivotal Champions League tie at Ajax, Roberto Firmino broke into the right-hand edge of the area and played the ball across the box for the unmarked Uruguayan at the far post.
All Nunez had to do was tap into an empty net with home goalkeeper Remko Pasveer out of the equation. Instead, he belted his effort against the woodwork.
The forward, frustrated at a previous lack of service as the Reds floundered in the opening half-hour, had already made a bit of a fool of himself with an over-reaction to being manhandled to the ground by Ajax defender Calvin Bassey.
The montage makers were rubbing their hands in delight. Yet before they were even able to fire up their laptops, Nunez demonstrated why he is fast becoming a firm favourite with the Liverpool support.
READ THE FULL STORY HERE.
READ NEXT:
- 'The first place you look' - Jamie Carragher explains where Liverpool went wrong in transfer market
- UEFA Champions League last 16 draw earlier than usual as Liverpool progress from group stage
- Peter Crouch and Rio Ferdinand discuss what Roberto Firmino did after Darwin Nunez miss
- Liverpool made to wait as feisty Ajax clash ends in European disappointment
- FA release statement on Jordan Henderson and Gabriel investigation after Arsenal vs Liverpool
