05 Nov 2009: NK Dinamo Zagreb - Ajax

[Kowalczyk]

Europa League group phase, matchday 4. Kick-off time: 19:00 CET.

Re-post...

UEFA's Control and Disciplinary Body has today ruled that NK Dinamo Zagreb must play their next two home matches in the UEFA Europa League behind closed doors, and have also deducted three points from the Croatian club's points tally in Group A.

Crowd disturbances
The decision follows serious crowd disturbances at the UEFA Europa League match between FC Timişoara and Dinamo Zagreb on 1 October. The two home matches to be played behind closed doors are against AFC Ajax on 5 November, and Timişoara on 17 December. The three-point deduction is effective immediately and is taken from the total number of points achieved by Dinamo Zagreb in Group A.

Appeal deadline
This decision may be appealed against within three days of the club receiving the written reasoning.

Source: UEFA.com

Re-posting Van Basten's reply...

If Dinamo will lose their 3 points, it means a draw in an away game against them will secure as a place in next round.

Safe bet that Dinamo Zagreb will appeal against this one, so it isn't final yet...

K.

[Kowalczyk]

The downside of all this, is the fact that 160 Ajax supporters bought tickets and made travel arrangements for this fixture. The money for the match ticket will of course be refunded, but their flights...?

Thankfully, only 160 Ajax fans were going to make the trip anyway, which has everything to do with the expected violence. A few years ago, when Ajax played there, five Ajax fans were beaten up and stabbed by a pretty large gang of Zagreb hooligans. That's what sparked the whole thing off, really: 'revenge' in Amsterdam, etc.

This is a very grim fixture. Sad but true.

K.

[Kowalczyk]

The downside of all this, is the fact that 160 Ajax supporters bought tickets and made travel arrangements for this fixture. The money for the match ticket will of course be refunded, but their flights...?

Respect to Ajax!

The club decided to have these 160 people along as VIPs. Ajax can bring 200 VIPs.

That's a fantastic gesture. Hats off, Ajax. Well done.

K.

[Blind3]

A very classy gesture and pure genius !! Showing the class and ingenuity befitting such an incredible club

[martinkohout]

Oh, man, that is awesome. Well played.

[SPL]

My salute to Ajax and their board for such a great gesture

[Kowalczyk]

Okay, as far as I know Dinamo Zagreb have not (succesfully) appealed against the UEFA penalty. This means that the table in group A now officially looks like this.

1. Ajax: 3-5 (3-2)
2. RSC Anderlecht: 3-5 (3- 1)
3. FC Timisoara: 3-2 (0- 3)
4. NK Dinamo Zagreb: 3-0 (4- 4)

For the record: I am not 100% sure why Ajax are tops, to be honest. Anderlecht have a better goal-differential (3-1 versus our 3-2) and the head-to-head result in Brussels was 1-1. Are we tops because the head-to-head result was 1-1, but we got it in an away game...?

I'm not sure what the criteria are, but we are officially #1 in the group for some reason.

K.

[Cedric]

Are we tops because the head-to-head result was 1-1, but we got it in an away game...?

If two or more teams are equal on points on completion of all the group matches, the following criteria are applied to determine the rankings (in descending order):
a) higher number of points obtained in the group matches played among the
teams in question;
b) superior goal difference from the group matches played among the teams
in question;
c) higher number of goals scored away from home in the group matches
d) superior goal difference from all group matches played;
e) higher number of goals scored;
f) higher number of coefficient points accumulated by the club in question, as well as its association, over the previous five seasons

So I guess it's a) ? Because we got 1 point against them so far?

[Kowalczyk]

Thanks, Cedric... Let's look at that list.

a) higher number of points obtained in the group matches played among the
teams in question;

This is not it. Ajax and Anderlecht played one match against each other and both got one point from it.

b) superior goal difference from the group matches played among the teams
in question;

This ain't the one, either. Result in the only head-to-head encounter was 1-1. One goal each.

c) higher number of goals scored away from home in the group matches

This must be the one.

Apparently, point c is about goals scored away from home in the matches played among the teams in question? In that case: yes, Ajax and Anderlecht played each other once, scoring one goal each, but Ajax scored 100% of their goals against Anderlecht in away matches, whereas Anderlecht scored 0% of their goals against Ajax in away matches.

If they mean 'number of goals scored away from in all group matches so far, Anderlecht would have been above Ajax: two out of their three goals were scored away from home, against one (out of three) away goals for Ajax...

Kind of weird, but point c is the crucial one and there's only one way to explain why Ajax are above Anderlecht: point c is about the number of away goals in head-to-head confrontations.

K.

[Cedric]

Of course this not A, a draw away has the same value has a draw at home. I think I was thinking about goals instead.

I checked the French version, and it's very clear that it's point c). They didn't forget the part 'among the teams in question' in this version.

[SE6Ajacied]

And I thought football was such a simple game-takes a real skill to make it this complicated!-good to see that we're top so far anyway....

[666]

Whether you read the rules in french, english, or swahili, the order in which Ajax and Anderlecht appear in the list is nothing but cosmetic until the final whistle of the final match. According to the small print there's no official ranking yet.

If two or more teams are equal on points on completion of all the group matches, the following criteria are applied to determine the rankings (in descending order):
a) higher number of points obtained in the group matches played among the
teams in question;
b) superior goal difference from the group matches played among the teams
in question;
c) higher number of goals scored away from home in the group matches
d) superior goal difference from all group matches played;
e) higher number of goals scored;
f) higher number of coefficient points accumulated by the club in question, as well as its association, over the previous five seasons

[gordonvandekamp]

The squad for the match:

Maarten Stekelenburg
Gregory van der Wiel
Oleguer
Jan Vertonghen
Urby Emanuelson
Marko Pantelic
Miralem Sulejmani
Kenneth Vermeer
Bruno Silva
Luis Suarez
Gabri
Toby Alderweireld
Dario Cvitanich
Siem de Jong
Vurnon Anita
Eyong Enoh
Kennedy
Demy de Zeeuw
Mitchell Donald

[Venezuelan Ajacied]

Ajax need to be carefull in this match Dynamo is going to be in desperate mode and are going to go full force, we cant overlook them in this spot. Man would it be sweet to eliminate there ases once and for all from the competition....poetical justice at it's best

[Van basten]

Whether you read the rules in french, english, or swahili, the order in which Ajax and Anderlecht appear in the list is nothing but cosmetic until the final whistle of the final match. According to the small print there's no official ranking yet.

If two or more teams are equal on points on completion of all the group matches, the following criteria are applied to determine the rankings (in descending order):
a) higher number of points obtained in the group matches played among the
teams in question;
b) superior goal difference from the group matches played among the teams
in question;
c) higher number of goals scored away from home in the group matches
d) superior goal difference from all group matches played;
e) higher number of goals scored;
f) higher number of coefficient points accumulated by the club in question, as well as its association, over the previous five seasons

Exactly. All those points matters after 6 games in group, now we're 1st, just because j (Ajax) gooes brfore n (Anderlecht). Alphabet thing.

[Cedric]

And Dinamo is third because D is before T?
Bad joke aside, I think that most of you like to know where Ajax stand in the middle of a competition, and to calculate that, I think we use the rules that will be used at the end. I mean, it's a bit like Eredivisie. If we beat Twente next Sunday, Ajax won't be #2 because of it's A, but thanks to its goal difference. And we'll be glad to be #2, even if this ranking won't have any value until May 2nd 2010.

[666]

No way. We're Ajax, so we're never glad to be #2. There's only one number that matters.

And we'll be glad to be #2

[Kowalczyk]

Ajax went to Zagreb with 19 players. One of them had to drop out of the final squad, and it's Gabri. He will be rested, because he's only just recovered from a hamstring injury.

Good decision, I think.

Dinamo Zagreb absolutely have to win, so they'll take risks. This is a perfect game to play with a more offensive midfielder instead of grbai (perhaps Sulejmani...?). We'll need Gabri in Enschede on Sunday, so I think this is a smart thing to do.

K.

[beelzebub]

Some history..
In this stadium the Yugoslavia war started indirectly during the match Dinamo Zagreb - Red Star Belgrade in May 1990:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXr1Z-MiApo

[gordonvandekamp]

This is a perfect game to play with a more offensive midfielder instead of grbai (perhaps Sulejmani...?). We'll need Gabri in Enschede on Sunday, so I think this is a smart thing to do.

K.

According to uefa.com's line-up, it is De Jong in for Gabri.

[Orange14]

The crowd is surprisingly silent!!!

[Orange14]

The crowd roars as Pantelic gets the first goal!

[martinkohout]

YEAH!!!

Anybody got a stream?

[Orange14]

SopCast 74174 is the only one I can find. Good picture today.

[gordonvandekamp]

Here's a browser link:

http://freedocast.com/forms/PopOut.aspx ... E62145109A

Seems to be cutting out some for me, but may be an alternative for those without Sopcast.