Tag: Champions League

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[2885] It has been awhile Ajax, it’s been awhile

I first began supporting Ajax in the late 1990s after watching Edwin van der Sar playing for the team. I do not remember when exactly, but possibly after finding out Ajax won the 1995 European Cup.

That team was a magical one. Marc Overmars. The de Boer brothers. Nwankwo Kanu. Jari Litmanen. Clarence Seedorf. Danny Blind.

As a teenager, I kept drawing Ajax’s Dutchman logo on my belongings. Pencil case, exercise books, tabletop. I remembered every line that needed to be drawn. And when I played Championship Manager, I only played Ajax and nothing else.

It has been ups and downs with Ajax. But since the late 1990s in general, until Frank de Boer arrived to manage the team, it is not an exaggeration to say it had been a downhill journey. I have stayed true to the team for all those years, but being dismissed as a has-been second-rated team was an insult I am sure many Ajax fans had to endure.

That is not to say there were no great players during the interim. Rafael van der Vaart. Wesley Sneijder. Luis Suarez. Christian Chivu. John Heitinga. Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The names go on and go. Yet, they could not quite make it super big at Ajax, and Ajax could not hold on to them. There was not enough money to go around. So they went away, doing great things at bigger clubs outside, getting paid multiple times more than what they got in Amsterdam.

But this current team, well…

I watched some ESPN clips commenting about the Ajax-Juventus fixture. All of them were dismissing Ajax with a halfhearted hand wave. “Ajax is good,” they said. “But they lack the experience,” they claimed.

And there was Cristiano Ronaldo.

This team that forced Bayern Munich to work for their one point and embarrassed Real Madrid in Santiago Bernabeu so badly, could not beat Juventus so supreme in the Serie A and so certain to win the Italian League, they believed.

And Ajax, oh well, Ajax is only at the top of the second-rated division, ahead of PSV Eindhoven by only goal difference.

Who is Ajax?

But Ajax has been in a serious rebuilding mode since the early 2010s when several of the 1990s veterans joined the management. There were infighting, but Frank de Boer rebuilt the team. He left in 2016 but he left a great foundation for Ajax to run on that they reached the final of the 2017 Europa Cup, losing to Manchester United after a great run. But well, that is second-rated competition. Who cares?

And now, in 2019 Ajax is in the semifinal after beating Juventus. Do not let anybody say it was luck. It was actually Ajax working brilliantly with confidence and experience.

And those ESPN commentators?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qP8yzG5bIEU

Eating Ronaldo’s smelly socks, no doubt.

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Sports

[2618] Ajax went above expectation

Frankly, when I found out that Ajax would be grouped with Real Madrid (again!), Manchester City and Borrusia Dortmund in the group stage of the Champions Leauge, my heart sank. Does Ajax have any chance against these giants? Borrusia Dortmund maybe but Real and City?

The first two results were grim. In the first match, Ajax was unlucky to lose to Dortmund 0-1. Given the tough matches ahead, this was a must win and Ajax wasted it. It appeared, Ajax might even miss the Europa Cup. In the next match,  Real pummeled Ajax 4 to 1. In the third match, which was held earlier today, I had expected City to roll over Ajax.

And no, instead, Ajax streamrolled over City.

I woke up for sleep for a moment after going to bed early. Weary eyes, I picked up my phone and checked the score: Nasri made it one up for City. I went back to bed, expected the worst.

At dawn, weary eyes still, forced to get up by the noisy alarm, I picked the phone again and what I read delighted me.

Not a bad way to start the day.

The unfortunate thing is that things are getting tight because Dortmund beat Real unexpectedly. While that means the qualification spots are wide open, I prefer if Real had won. While that would probably realistic sealed the first spot for Real, leaving only the second spot open, it would be easier to have the second spot wide opened than all spots opened. Reason is simple: the points difference between the second and the third ranked teams in Group D would be smaller in the only-second-spot-is-opened scenario than the scenario of all-spots-are-opened.

Right now, there is a 3-point difference between second-placed Real and third-place Ajax. If Real had won, there would have been only a 1-point difference between Dortmund and Ajax.

Anyway, while I do want to see Ajax qualify into the next round of the Champions League (it has been too long), I think the realistic expectation is to go through the Europa Cup. To do this, Ajax will have to beat City (the next match will be in Manchester, which will be tough. Fighting away from home is also tough; I probably do not mind a draw) and beat Dortmund. Do all that to maintain the third spot.

I am convinced that Ajax can beat Dortmund in Amsterdam later in November.

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Sports

[2241] Of to mark a return, let’s do a Group of Death

After five disappointing years mingling with the unpure, Ajax finally return to top-flight soccer. Too excited Ajax are, that the Amsterdammers outrageously jumped straight into the so-called Group of Death, filled with AC Milan, Real Madrid and Auxerre. It is really hard to see a more competitive group for this season’s Champions League than the group Ajax are in.

Nothing could really describe how critical is the return of Ajax to the Champions League. Earlier in the season, manager Martin Jol who engineered the return almost left Ajax for Fulham. One of the reasons why he contemplated the move was money: Ajax had little to spare to strengthen its squad. The Champions League is big dollar championship that may solve the financial issues that Ajax face.

Apart from money is the issue of prestige. Especially after the Dutch’s good run in the latest edition of the World Cup, big rich clubs are targeting multiple Ajax players. Suarez is one. van der Wiel is two. Stekelenburg is three. Top-flight soccer is a factor that may encourage these players and others in the first team to stay a little bit longer amid opportunities to play in bigger leagues with bigger pay.

Ajax also need to attract good players for the obvious reasons. The youth is of course great but Ajax need more than just building the future. Ajax need to build the present.

Yet another reason why the return is important is the fans. One cannot begin to describe the shame of exile. Four-time European winner, down there, somewhere under the radar. “Ajax, oh, they were good.” They were good…

I am clearly delighted with the return but honestly, I do not think Ajax will advance too far this time around, especially with the like of AC Milan and Real Madrid.

Ajax have a good time. Last season was great. El Hamdouai so far has proven to be a good buy, clicking with Suarez and the rest of the team. But AC Milan and Real Madrid are not Vitesse, Groningen, Twente, PSV or even the old lady Feyenoord whom fate nowadays deserves pity.

Ajax struggled with PAOK and Dynamo Kiev during the qualification and play-off round. Based on that performance, frankly, Ajax will struggle against Auxerre. Ajax will struggle against the other two teams in the group.

Ajax played against Auxerre previously in the Champions League. I do not remember anything more than that.

I do not know if Ajax played Real Madrid in the Champions League before.

But I know that Ajax played AC Milan countless of times before. The most memorable meet-up for Ajax is, well, watch this: