See Naples and then die. This is how Ajax’s season in the Champions League can be summarized in short. After Alfred Schreuder’s team was exposed 6-1 by SSC Napoli last week in the Johan Cruijff Arena, another defeat followed on Wednesday evening (4-2) in Stadio Diego Armando Maradona. Ajax only seems to have a chance in theory for a place in the eighth finals of the Champions League. In order to rise from a sporting death, the remaining duels with FC Liverpool (home) and Rangers FC (away) must in any case be won.
It was clear in advance that Ajax was not the favorite for the group win in group A. Maybe a dangerous one outsider. But few had expected that the Dutch champion would be in an almost hopeless position after four matches. Certainly not after the convincing start against Rangers, which was beaten 4-0 on September 7 in Amsterdam. In retrospect, the victory said more about the weakness of the Scots than about the strength of Ajax. Liverpool (2-1) and SSC Napoli made it clear that the current team is far from the top in the Champions League. Ajax has almost certainly been sentenced to the Europa League. And that hurts in Amsterdam, where they see themselves as a ‘global player’, according to the annual report.
Shortage for the top
Ajax would like to join the best clubs in Europe, but simply cannot find a place in the top 30 of the Deloitte Football Money League both financially (with a turnover of 189.2 million) and sportingly (third place in group A of 189.2 million). the Champions League) deficit. The 2018-2019 season, in which Ajax reached the semi-finals of the Champions League, is often seen as a guideline. It seems to have been an occasional outlier. A structural place in the best eight clubs in Europe not only requires a much higher budget, but also a different buying and selling policy. Ajax simply cannot sell the best players year after year with impunity in the hope that their (usually cheaper) replacements will compensate for the loss of quality.
That worked four years ago. At the time, the technical director Marc Overmars, who has since left, did such a golden job by attracting the veterans Daley Blind and Dusan Tadic that the expensive bad buys Lisandro Magallán, Hassane Bandé and Zakaria Labyad – together good for a transfer fee of 23.25 million. euros – were forgiven him that year. For keeper André Onana, the experienced Blind and Tadic, together with playmaker Hakim Ziyech and the talents Matthijs de Ligt and Frenkie de Jong, formed the skeleton of a balanced team with which the then trainer Erik ten Hag successfully competed with Real Madrid and Juventus. Never before this century has Ajax been so close to the final. The Champions League went to FC Liverpool in 2019.
The difference in quality between the current teams of FC Liverpool and Ajax is large. That became clear during the mutual meeting at Anfield on September 13 when The Reds outclassed Schreuder’s team. In recent years, FC Liverpool (with a turnover of 550 million euros) under trainer Jürgen Klopp has forced a structural place in the top of Europe with a focused, stable policy, while almost nothing is left of the successful Ajax of three years ago. is. Overmars was forced to leave after sexually transgressive behaviour. Just like Ten Hag, Onana, Ziyech, De Ligt and De Jong have left for top foreign clubs. At Daley Blind – posted centrally against Napoli – the best is off. And Tadic is now nothing more than a frustrated captain, who has credit mainly based on his past performances. In the home game with SSC Napoli, he disadvantaged his team by unnecessarily receiving two yellow cards.
Well-oiled machine
For example, Ajax started on Wednesday evening in Naples in the Champions League without Tadic. The Serb was in Naples as moral support in the stands. This time Tadic did not get the chance to coach Ajax’s team along the line as he did as a substitute at FC Volendam last Saturday. This time he left that to Schreuder, who stated beforehand that he wanted to dominate with his team in Naples. It stayed with words. The current selection simply lacks the quality to start big European away games with an Amsterdam bluff. It is significant that a technically limited player like Edson Álvarez is perhaps the most valuable Ajax player.
Ajax was again overrun in large parts in Naples by the well-oiled machine of coach Luciano Spalletti. The match, which saw six goals and nine yellow cards, was never really an equal battle. The Mexican Hirving Lozano opened the score after four minutes with a header after a wonderful combination with the Polish playmaker Piotr Zielinski. Giacomo Raspadori made it 2-0 after more than fifteen minutes with a flaming shot. Davy Klaassen scored with a header four minutes after the break, but Georgian Khvicha Kvaratskhelia brought the difference back to two in the 62nd minute with a utilized penalty (hands by Jurriën Timber). Steven Bergwijn also did something back from eleven meters in 83rd minute and substitute Victor Osimhen determined, after a blunder by Blind, the final score at 4-2.
After a long search, SSC Napoli seems able to fight the European top with modern and attacking football. Ajax’s hopes for this have died a quiet death in Naples for the time being.
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