ResumeAjax has closed the group stage of the Champions League against Sporting Lisbon in style and with an impressive record. Also in the sixth consecutive victory, top scorer Sébastien Haller and tastemaker Antony claimed the leading role: 4-2.
Sports editors
Latest update:
07-12-21, 23:52
Real Madrid, AC Milan, PSG, Spartak Moscow, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and… Ajax. There are worse ranks to settle into. With the group win in his pocket, there were still records to be earned for Ajax against the also placed and considerably rejuvenated Sporting. The team of coach Erik ten Hag grabbed them all. The prettiest? Ajax was the first Dutch and seventh European club to close the group stage in the European premier class with the maximum number of eighteen points.
Besides that historic achievement of six victories, not one of which was stolen against the Portuguese and Turkish champions and the German number two, Ajax still had many individual milestones to celebrate. The first was for Daley Blind, who equaled Jari Litmanen with most CL matches for Ajax.
Eight minutes later, Haller wrote the next chapter of his fairy tale. When it turned out that Daniel Bragança had stepped on his foot, the top scorer scored his tenth CL goal from eleven meters. From his insane debut in Lisbon, when he knocked out Sporting with four goals, Haller has been accurate in every group game. No debutant preceded him in this. Cristiano Ronaldo as a Real Madrid player. Haller is also only the fourth attacker to finish the group stage in double figures after the Portuguese star, as well as Lionel Messi and Robert Lewandowski.
Ajax’s hundredth home goal in the Champions League was cleverly brushed away by Nuno Santos, who escaped the attention of Perr Schuurs. Ajax was confused for a moment, until Antony, the other great Ajax guide this campaign, got the ball as a gift, fooled two Portuguese with a hip movement and pushed in the 2-1. After the break, David Neres and Steven Berghuis lifted the score to 4-1, as a result of which Ajax reports to the check-in desk of the knockout phase with twenty goals made. The beautiful final chord was then still for Tabata.
draw
On Monday afternoon Ajax will know that tonight will be without captain Dusan Tadic, who will be the opponent in the eighth final in February. What does the perfect group stage say about the chances of a new great campaign? Well, as Ten Hag already stated, no European giant will watch a link to Ajax hand-rubbing on Monday. The Amsterdammers are once again seen as a dark horse in Europe, especially now that all top talents stayed on board.
Judging by the group stage, the stunt team has the pleasant property of being able to effortlessly increase the intensity as soon as the resistance increases, as was also the case in 2019. Few clubs are as well attuned to each other as the intact team and the extensive selection of Ten Hag. If you dig in, then Ajax is able to punch holes in the wall with smooth combination play. If you come out of your shell, you risk cutting yourself in the fast and productive attack machine.
Yet there are also clear differences. After all, three years ago, Ajax was less taken into account. After this impressive and productive series, and certainly with the stunts from three years ago in mind, opponents can hardly be underestimated. “In previous years I had to pull harder than now,” said Ten Hag on Friday, pointing to the hunger that wintering in the billion-dollar ball causes in his group, in contrast to previous years, who is still active in the Champions after the winter break. league. However, that also means that Ajax has to peak on several fronts. If the hunt for the national title was still a priority last season after the turn of the year, players now have an even bigger stage to put themselves (further) in the spotlight at the European top. This can create a different dynamic and requires even more focus.
The third week of February, especially with a transfer window in between, is still a long way off. But the contrast with the past two years is enormous. Then Ajax was bowled to the Europa League. Now the dreams are bigger than ever when Ajax reports to the crème de la crème of Europe again in 2022.
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