Ajax ensured Rangers’ return to the Champions League after a 12-year absence was a miserable one with a 4-0 thrashing in Amsterdam.
Coming into the game on the back of a defeat by the same scoreline in Saturday’s Old Firm game, Rangers found themselves on the back foot from the first whistle and deservedly fell a goal behind when Edson Alvarez headed in from a corner after 17 minutes.
Ajax continued to dominate and added a second after 32 minutes when John McLaughlin was wrong-footed by James Sands’ deflection on Steven Berghuis’ shot. One minute and 57 seconds later it was three, as Mohammed Kudus span James Tavernier before racing forwards and hammering home a superb third to epitomise Ajax’s superb first-half showing.
A triple substitution at half-time shored up Rangers’ defence but with the three points already secured, Ajax dropped the tempo and spent much of the second 45 minutes playing keep ball.
They did still manage to add a late fourth, though, when Steven Bergwijn intercepted Ryan Jack’s poor pass before rounding McLaughlin and providing the final blow in Rangers’ wretched evening in the Dutch capital.