LIVERPOOL: Jurgen Klopp praised the young Liverpool line-up who beat Ajax 1-0 to advance to the 16th Champions League group stage.

The Reds’ youngsters took advantage of the opportunity following Liverpool’s key milestone injury with Curtis Jones, 19, scoring the only goal of the game and Caoimhin Kelleher ensuring he was not missed in his debut.

The win also keeps Klopp’s men in the top spot in Group D, and allows the operator to rest his star ahead of the group’s final match in Midtjylland next week.

“Honestly, since I was in Liverpool, this is the biggest Champions League night.

“Without the fans at the stadium, it was the most important match, the hardest and most incredible,” said Klopp, who took Liverpool to the final twice and won it last year.

Kelleher had to replace Alisson Becker, who joined Klopp’s injury list before the kick-off, while Andrew Robertson played with a bandaged ankle in the first half.

Among Liverpool injured and unable to play were Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Naby Keita, Xherdan Shaqiri, Trent Alexander-Arnold and James Milner.