20 APR 2017 Schalke 04 - Ajax Europa League Quarterfinals

[Amol]

YOUNEEESSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

3-2!!!!!! It's over boys!! We can't cock up this one now.

[SPL]

Younes wonderful thats it we are through .We were attacking there with 4 or 5 up the field.Magic 40 mins with 10 men .Hup Ajax .

[SPL]

Oh boy what a final 15 mins in the end .Not just scoring the away goal but in that last 2 mins we were looking for a 2nd and got it . Very tired but happy players,all heros and we must now be lifted for PSV.

[ajaxcolombia]

WOW classic Ajax moment right here!! Europa League Semifinals! Can you believe it!

[Orange14]

Entertaining, certainly; good football, questionable. 10 man Ajax suck it up and get two goals in extra time to win the tie outright. Viergever is MOTM even though he might have been stronger on the third Schalke goal. On to the semifinals now and we need a nice draw as we will be thin at back with both Veltman and Viergever out. Loved how Sanchez charged up the field as though he was an MF with only a couple of minutes left (though I might have rued the day that happened had the ball turned over and Schalke won).

Player Ratings:

Onana (7.5) - came up big when he had to
Viergever (8) - got the match winner and was marauding up field to the very end
de Ligt (7.5) - very solid
Sanchez (7.5) - after a slow start was a rock the rest of the way
Veltman (2) - Awful game and then was sent off for a stupid obstruction
Schöne (5) - quite average
Klaassen (7) - no offense but solid on defense down the stretch
Ziyech (4) - didn't properly defend on the first goal and other than one strong shot on goal did little
Younes (7) - did the hard work on defense that he usually doesn't have to do and got a nice goal at the end to seal the deal
Traore (4.5) - quite weak
Kluivert (5.5) - no danger tonight
Dolberg (6) - some decent play in extra time
van de Beek (6.5) - good play coming in at the holding MF
Tete (7) - needed a defender and Tete was up to the job and he wanted to attack late in the match

Semifinal draw tomorrow. Besiktas-Lyon in penalties; ManU and Celta Vigo through

[Ayman]

Unfuckingbelievable! Im in Germany the only Ajax fan in the pub. What a let off! Bring on Lyon or Man U!

[Amol]

If I were Overmars, Bosz and Van Der Sar, I would first sit down with Tete and guarantee him starting spot for the next 2 years and offer max salary plus bonuses.

[ajaxcolombia]

Does anyone know why we played in that green kit?

[Orange14]

If I were Overmars, Bosz and Van Der Sar, I would first sit down with Tete and guarantee him starting spot for the next 2 years and offer max salary plus bonuses.

Plus One Million on this suggestion!!!!!!!

[Orange14]

Does anyone know why we played in that green kit?

It's the away kit and we were the visitors. Couldn't wear the home kit as Schalke have white shorts the same as Ajax

[Amol]

Does anyone know why we played in that green kit?

I read somewhere that the only options we had was to play with our home jersey and red pants or last year's away kit. I hate the red shorts with home jersey combination and apparently so do Ajax players. Schalke played with white shorts, so we had to wear colors.

[ajaxcolombia]

Thanks Amol for the answer., it's not common seeing Ajax wear last season's away kit (that I'm not a big fan of). A couple of statistics:

Ajax is the tournament's leader in aggression with 33 yellow cards and three red cards. Krasnodar is second with 23 yellow cards.

We had 22 shots against 19 by Schalke, 9 of ours were on target against 7 of theirs. Not to be surprised it was Ziyech who took most of them with 6, half of them on target, followed by Nick Viergever's 4, three of them on target, one being a historic Ajax goal, another one being a first half bicycle kick.

We averaged 70% passing accuracy, Matthijs de Ligt being the most accurate on the ball at 88%. Davy Klaassen, had the most accurate passes for Ajax with 45, which might be a first. I've been noticing a positive upward trend in Klaassen's performances which I think is great, after all he's an academy player. Hakim Ziyech had 5 key passes, most out of any player on the pitch, including one assist for Amin Younes in extra time, so he does something right.

Amin Younes won 6 dribbles, followed by Dolberg with 4.

De Ligt was prolific in the air winning 7 aerial duels.

Viergever was Ajax's best performing defender with 4 tackles, 9!!!!! (bloody hell) 9 interceptions. That's just outrageous, 9 freaking interceptions, think about that. And 8 clearances. De Ligt beat him in this category with 10 clearances.

However, Viergever's performance was the stuff of legends. He was absolutely fantastic today, not only with the goal but he really put his heart out there, what a winning mentality, lots of guts and guile on his part (please read above, 9 interceptions!).

[FearNoArt]

First of all gongratz!!! What a ride.. first half was as good as the second was bad, but those boys turned into men last night with impressive fighting spirit. The whole staff deserves a lot of credit for motivating the player through a tough game..
Second of all I am ashamed of myself for loosing hope after the third goal, but more importantly they did not..

[SPL]

I lost hope when Veltman was sent off and after their 3rd!

Highlight was that last 1min when 4 of lads were up in their area hunting another goal ,and Younes provided it. Any other side should have had all 10 back defending but attack is the best form of defence.

A wonderful night .Still cannot understand how Veltman gets in above Tete!!

[Orange14]

Despite the fact that Ajax were defending with 10 for a long stretch last night they were much more fit over the final 20 minutes than Schalke. Everyone defended well but look how quickly they tried to go forward once the ball was turned over. I don't know what got into Sanchez in the 118th minute; he looked like a winger hungry for a goal!!!

[SPL]

So its Lyon . No worries ,then stuff man u in the final

[Ayman]

Ajax have drawn Lyon in the semi final of the Europa league. Home game first. If they win, they will be allocated more tickets in the final. I.e will be the home team

[souras84]

Revenge time! After that travesty against Zagreb! Let's PUNISH them!!!

[Orange14]

^^^Right you are!!! I was thinking the exact same thing. Lyon are in fourth place in their league but too many points off of third to qualify for CL football next season. The have Memphis Depay these days but I don't know if he is eligible as maybe he played a cup match for ManU before moving.

[Ayman]

^^^Right you are!!! I was thinking the exact same thing. Lyon are in fourth place in their league but too many points off of third to qualify for CL football next season. The have Memphis Depay these days but I don't know if he is eligible as maybe he played a cup match for ManU before moving.

Depay is cup tied and can't play in the Europa league competition