02 AUG 2017 Ajax - OCG Nice CL 3rd Qualifying Round

[Orange14]

Ajax take on Nice in the return match with the precious away goal. The Nice keeper was not convincing in the first match and Ajax need to put shots on frame to make him work hard. Ajax would be a seeded team for the qualifying round as they would have over 57 points thanks to their fine performance in the Europa League last season. This means that they would not play Sevilla, Napoli, or Liverpool for certain as those three teams would be seeded.

[Ayman]

Mario Ballotelli has been ruled out of the champions league qualifier game against Ajax due to an injury.

[Ayman]

It's official, Balotelli has been left out of the squad to face Ajax:

THE 22-MAN SQUAD TO FACE AJAX
Nice coach Lucien Favre has named the following 22-man squad for the match against Ajax (Wednesday at 20:45 CET). Mario Balotelli has been left out due to injury.

Goalkeepers : Cardinale, Benitez, Clementia.

Defenders : Dalbert, Dante, Jallet, Le Marchand, Sarr, Souquet.

Midfielders : Eysseric, Koziello, Lees-Melou, Lusamba, Makengo, Marcel, Seri, Tameze, Walter.

Forwards : Mahou, Ganago, Plea, Srarfi.

[SPL]

Only change to our squad Dijks for Dankerlui.

[King Litti]

I wonder what kind of a display will the fans have for Nouri tonight. We might see something special.

[souras84]

I hope all this doesn't turn against us, like increasing the burden on our shoulders

[Ayman]

No changes to the starting line up from last week.

[Orange14]

Let's come out strong and get a quick goal and finish Nice off!!!

[Orange14]

Too many caught out of position; not a good start

[Ayman]

Dear lord, is this going to be a horror movie or what?

[saddlerian]

Good "young" Donny!!! 1-1...neighbour thought something was wrong and nearly broke my door down!!!!

[Orange14]

an awful start to the game with a lot of scrambling to try to cover for players out of position. Nice goal was deserved. Ajax settled down and then started to ramp up the pressure. Nice goal from van de Beek. Schöne looks like he's running on fumes right now so de Jong will likely come on earlier. Nobody seems to be able to contain Kluivert tonight.

[Ayman]

Some fantastic play by van de Beek and Kluivert.

[SPL]

Bad start but Donny again with the goal .Kluivert and Donny having good games .Hope de Jong comes on asap, and Huntelaar will score the winner.

[Ayman]

Ajax started the first half with guns blazing, hope it comes to fruition

[Amol]

DOELPUNT!!!!

2-1!!

[Ayman]

Sanchez!!!

[Orange14]

WOW! Was that ever nice!!!

[Manneken Pis]

Any suggestions for a live stream for an iPad?

Cheers.

[Amol]

Oh fack!

2-2. We need to score another one, else we're out.

[SPL]

Not a lot to say, Thursday night EL again.

[saddlerian]

Getting pissed off with this!!! Why the hell does the site NOT recognise my password when moving from one computer to another!!!! Really hacks me off.....just wish the team had shown the same aggression as I show with this f***ing password crap!!!

[zeux]

Not a lot to say, Thursday night EL again.

First qualify, right?

[saddlerian]

Ajax started the first half with guns blazing, hope it comes to fruition

Err...are you talking about the game in Nice, or tonight? Guns blazing!!!!!! The team were not even 50% of the team in Nice.....WHY????

[Orange14]

My stream died at the 88th minute so I didn't see the end of the match. don't know if Ajax got any chances or not. What a poor way to lose a match. de Ligt got a clearance but not away and there was a free runner who got inside and delivered a very nice back heel that was easy to put into the net. Things happened pretty fast so it's not clear to me who was at fault for the goal. Nice go forward and Ajax drop out. I don't know if Ajax drop down to the EL or if they are out of Europe completely. If Ajax are out of Europe, I wonder what happens regarding transfers.

Team had some very good play in the 2nd half but could not get the third goal that would have iced the match. It's difficult with such a young team and a new system to expect that they will defend 100% all of the time in matches such as this one. A couple of mistakes is all it takes and Ajax made them. I like the way Keizer has set up the team to play pressing football. For the most part it worked well. Too bad CL football is now gone.

Player Ratings:

Onana (7) - made a very nice save on the first goal but there was nobody covering the left side
Viergever (6.5) - had a couple of rough patches on defense but the header to Sanchez for the go ahead goal was beautiful
de Ligt (7) - didn't see anything wrong with his game
Sanchez (7) - rocky first five minutes and then wonderful the rest of the way
Veltman (6.5) - it would be nice if we had a fullback on the right who is offensively inclined
Schöne (6) - just a margin above OK
van de Beek (7) - it's easy to forget about Klaassen with a player such as van de Beek
Ziyech (7) - another fine game
Younes (4.5) - weakest player on the pitch
Dolberg (6) - some good play on the ball and I liked how he took Dante to the cleaners
Kluivert (7) - nobody could contain him
de Jong (4) - stayed on the ball too long and was dispossessed
Huntelaar (NR) - didn't see the end of the match
Neres (NR) - didn't see the end of the match

Ajax are away to Heracles a week from Saturday to open the Eredivisie campaign