Rosenborg super substitute Samuel Adegbenro scored twice in the final 10 minutes of Thursday’s Europa League qualifier against Ajax to send the Dutch club crashing out of the competition.

Having already been eliminated by OGC Nice in the third round of the Champions League, Ajax lost 3-2 in Norway after losing the first leg to Rosenborg at home.

It’s the first time Ajax has failed to qualify for the main draw of a European competition since 1965-66, according to ESPN’s Paul Carr. Back then, a teenaged Johan Cruyff was only in his second season with the Amsterdam outfit.

“There will be long weeks,” defender Joel Veltman said after the match.

It’s been a disappointing start to the 2017-18 season, especially after reaching the Europa League final in May. The departures of Bertrand Traore, Davy Klaassen, and Davinson Sanchez, along with manager Peter Bosz, have had a negative effect on Ajax’s outlook.

Unfortunately, this is now life for the four-time European champion, which cannot expect to compete financially with Europe’s elite.

The loss of Champions League and Europa League revenue will only weaken Ajax’s spending power for the campaign ahead.

Philippe Coutinho is missing out on all the fun.

Again without its Brazilian attacker in the lineup amid interest from Barcelona, Liverpool stormed to a 4-2 defeat of Hoffenheim on Wednesday, advancing to the Champions League group stages with a 6-3 aggregate victory.

The Reds are in the process of re-establishing themselves as the Premier League’s greatest entertainers, and did their notoriety on the continental front no harm in an outing that saw the attacking triumvirate of Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino, and Mohamed Salah run riot.

Salah and Firmino both weighed in with goals, and Emre Can added a brace from midfield. The home side is seldom commended for its defending, though, and unsurprisingly surrendered tallies to Mark Uth and Sandro Wagner during the test.

Liverpool will finally compete in the Champions League under Jurgen Klopp, and for the first time since the 2014-15 campaign’s disappointing elimination under Real Madrid and FC Basel in Group B when Brendan Rodgers was in charge.

Hoffenheim, meanwhile, drops into the Europa League.

The red-clad masses at Anfield collectively gasped early on when Wagner peeled away from the Reds’ defence and squared for Serge Gnabry. With the goal at the unmarked ex-Arsenal winger’s mercy, he somehow sent his effort wide, but his blushes were spared by the linesman’s flag.

Liverpool took advantage of its superiority after 10 minutes. A galloping Mane couldn’t reach the momentum required to lose the attentions of Pavel Kaderabek, so he held up the ball before releasing an overlapping Can with a deft backheel. The German’s deflected effort wrong-footed goalkeeper Oliver Baumann.

The home side was purring, and by 21 minutes it was 3-0 up after Salah and Can (again) got on the scoresheet. The latter effort was extremely pleasing on the eye, with a stunning team move concluded by ex-Hoffenheim favourite Firmino fluttering a cross over to Can to volley in at the back stick.

Related – Watch: Can gem caps Liverpool’s 21-minute treble

Hoffenheim was reeling, prompting Julian Nagelsmann to substitute West Ham United flop Havard Nordtveit after 24 minutes and reassess his team’s approach. Nordtveit’s replacement, Uth, scored before the half-hour mark, but Liverpool was undeterred and looked the likeliest to add to its tally before the break.

Liverpool’s defence continued to look susceptible in the second stanza, but its fluid and persistent strikeforce was rewarded when Firmino claimed a deserved goal with an easy side-footed finish. Credit to Jordan Henderson for the assist, who hounded the ball off Kevin Vogt before sliding it across to Firmino.

Wagner, who was busy in the Hoffenheim frontline, produced a consolation on 79 minutes with a well-executed header.

Liverpool is now expected to fall into pot three for Thursday’s Champions League group-stage draw, but whether Coutinho will be representing the Scouse club for that conquest remains to be seen.

Five teams realised their dreams of reaching the 2017-18 Champions League group stage on Tuesday, while the quintet who fell short in the second legs of the play-off phase will now test themselves in the Europa League.

Here, theScore runs through the goals and events of all five of Tuesday’s fixtures.

Astana 4-3 Celtic (4-8 aggregate)

Goals:

• Astana: Kristoffer Ajer – 26′ (own goal)

• Celtic: Scott Sinclair – 33′

• Astana: Serikzhan Muzhikov – 48′

• Astana: Patrick Twumasi – 49′

• Astana: Patrick Twumasi – 69′

• Celtic: Olivier Ntcham – 79′

• Celtic: Leigh Griffiths – 90′

An overwhelming advantage almost turned into disaster for Celtic, but despite losing the second leg, the Scottish champion managed to sneak past Astana and into the Champions League group stage with an 8-4 aggregate victory.

A path to the group stage was crystal clear before the Kazakhstan outfit jumped out to a 4-1 lead. But fears of an meltdown were allayed by a late Celtic charge to secure progression.

Maribor 1-0 Hapoel Beer-Sheva (2-2)

Goals:

• Maribor: Mitja Viler – 15′

A crucial late save from Jasmin Handanovic – younger cousin of Inter Milan shot-stopper Samir – booked Maribor’s route into the Champions League group stages on away goals.

Hapoel Beer-Sheva had slightly more of the ball in Slovenia, but forwards Anthony Nwakaeme – a goalscorer in the previous encounter – and Mohammad Ghadir struggled to influence the game.

Maribor wound up last in Group G during the 2014-15 Champions League, when it finished below Chelsea, Schalke, and Sporting CP.

Nice 0-2 Napoli (0-4)

Goals:

• Napoli: Jose Maria Callejon – 48′
• Napoli: Lorenzo Insigne – 89′

Mario Balotelli and Wesley Sneijder floundered as Nice limped to a 2-0 loss to Napoli at the Allianz Riviera.

Napoli – tipped by many as the team most likely to topple Juventus in Serie A – professionally overcame the Alpes-Maritimes club with second-half tallies helped by questionable defending from Maxime Le Marchand and Dante.

Nice will participate in the Europa League for the second consecutive term.

Rijeka 0-1 Olympiacos (1-3)

Goals:

• Olympiacos: Marko Marin – 25′

Marko Marin, one of many players who drifted into obscurity through a series of loan spells while on Chelsea’s books, gave Olympiacos a valuable cushion in Rijeka with a neat, lifted finish.

Rijeka’s elimination at the play-off stage isn’t down to a want of trying, but Matjaz Kek’s ranks were wasteful with 12 attempts missing the target.

Sevilla 2-2 Istanbul Basaksehir (4-3)

Goals:

• Istanbul Basaksehir: Eljero Elia – 17′
• Sevilla: Sergio Escudero – 52′
• Sevilla: Wissam Ben Yedder – 75′
• Istanbul Basaksehir: Edin Visca – 83′

Istanbul Basaksehir fell short of an historic Champions League adventure despite a spirited performance in Andalusia.

Equipped with former Premier League regulars Gael Clichy, Emre Belozoglu, and Emmanuel Adebayor, the Turkish minnow opened the scoring through standout Eljero Elia, and then responded to two Sevilla strikes with Edin Visca’s late equaliser.

But Basaksehir will compete in the Europa League in 2017-18 – not bad for a team that only returned to the Turkish Super Lig from the second tier in 2014.

(Photos courtesy: Action Images)

Jurgen Klopp was nothing short of impressed in how a teenager dismantled an old foe of his.

After Trent Alexander-Arnold, who is only 18 years old, curled home a beautiful free-kick in the first leg of Liverpool’s tie against TSG 1899 Hoffenheim in the Champions League’s play-offs, Klopp praised the teenage right-back, who was making his debut in European club football’s most prestigious tournament.

“I have to say for an 18-year-old to have the balls to kick a free-kick like that is more interesting and exciting for me than a little mistake he made,” Klopp said following Liverpool’s 2-1 away victory, according to the Guardian’s Andy Hunter. “It was an intensive game for him. He has still some things to learn. He thought it was offside but it was obviously not offside, unfortunately. Trent is a great player and I have to say I would rather have 2-1 than 1-0.”

Alexander-Arnold’s performance was mature beyond his years, as the youngster who grew up close to Liverpool’s training ground joined a number of the Reds’ attacks, including the one in which James Milner produced the club’s second goal at Hoffenheim.

The second leg of the tie is scheduled for Aug. 23 at Anfield.