28 AUG 2018; Dynamo Kiev - Ajax; CL Qualifying

[SPL]

What relief although with better finishing it should have been 5 or 6-0. Kiev completely outplayed apart from in their own box where the ball would not go in.

Tadic must be a very relieved player .

[Orange14]

On to the Group Stage of the Champions League!!!! In the end, Ajax just had too much talent on the ball compared to Dynamo. Outside of the first fifteen minutes, Ajax were in control of the match and should have finished things off at several points during the match. This kind of finishing will certainly be punished when they move on to more talented competitors. Ajax really need to get Dolberg back to the pitch. Huntelaar cannot keep up this kind of playing schedule for much longer and I was surprised that he was not substituted off for the final 15 minutes.

Player Ratings:
Onana (7.5) - had some work to do in the first fifteen minutes of the match and was up to it
Wöber (7) - more than adequate substitute for Tagliafico and it was good to see him go forward with purpose
Blind (7.5) - he really had a fine game on defense and his passing was incisive
de Ligt (7.5) - great match from our Captain, really strong in keeping things organized on the back line
Mazraoui (6.5) - poor defending on the early break into the box by his man but after that was fine
Schöne (7) - good field sense with his passing and he managed to defend pretty well
de Jong (7) - very good first half and then tailed off a bit; never make a back heel when you're deep in your territory and you don't know what is behind you!!
van de Beek (5.5) - really ran hard all game but his finishing was mediocre
Tadic (7) - two centimeters off on the PK but he sits on the ball so well and makes some great plays as a result
Huntelaar (6.5) - really tired down the stretch and was unlucky not to have scored
Ziyech (8) - strongest player for me tonight and he was relentless challenging for the ball everytime there was a turnover

Group Stage draw is this Thursday and I believe Ajax will be in Pot 3

[SPL]

Double delight for a club whose DNA is youth is that our U19 now qualify for the U19 CL .

[kezme44]

we did it! easy game, but the team played really well. kiev had one decent chance at that was it. de jong was superb. apparently with the qualification to the CL, we already have made 42 million euros. could go even higher, depending on what happens with benfica and psv tomorrow, and of course if we win games and make it past the group stage. for those that want to see the breakdown, quite interesting how the money adds up.

https://www.vi.nl/nieuws/ajax-verdient- ... 42-miljoen

[Orange14]

Phew. On top since the 10th minute but refused to make it comfortable. Maybe just unlucky but we'll have to put those chances away to compete for 3rd place in the CL group.

You are a pessimist!!! Ajax will win the group and move strongly into the knock out round.

[Tom_]

That would be fine with me ;)

To be fair this Ajax squad is the strongest we’ve had in ages, so why not?

[SPL]

Good ratings would just say we do need a fit Dolberg ,KJH has only missed about 60 or 70 mins in total over 8 games, thats some effort for a 35 year old .Wober impressed and had a good game.

At least we can forget about any players leaving this week ,I doubt Ziyech will go anywhere now we are in the CL.

[SPL]

Wow so we make 43 m minimum even if we lose all 6 games. Overmars says we dont need money and now we are rich
without selling any star players ,other than the brat Kluivert.
Tadic mighty relieved.

[Amol]

Saw the whole game and am as amazed as everyone else that we didn't score. At times it seemed that we were toying with them. After the first 8-10 minutes, Kiev was never really in the game.

I'm liking the fact that we are now able to play 2-3 different systems and being able to switch between them and also have the players who are able to play those systems. Team is able to play a pressing game or switch to a waiting game like we did in the 2nd half today and last Wednesday.

In my opinion - this team is more Europe ready than Bosz's team.

[Orange14]

Forgot to rate Eiting and de Wit. Eiting gets a solid 6 for some very nice play coming on for van de Been. de Wit is NR as I am not sure he has a touch.

[souras84]

Happy for the CL qualy, but very troubled about our inefficiency in front of the goal. We really need to score at least 1 per 5-6 chances. The level of the tournament is way high and even pot 4 has strong teams. Apart from the money, I would like a decent group stage. I wouldn't like a Real type humiliation with 4 goals conceded etc. I still believe we need one more central defender.

Now, about the coaching. Ok, we were a couple of levels better than Dynamo, but after the 75th minute Ziyech, Huntelaar, Tadic (not so much), and a couple of our midfielders couldn't run. That's absolutely logical, thinking of the type of game we play. I am worried about the lack of substitutions and considering that a (typical Ajax) late goal by Dynamo, would get us in serious trouble. So, it's either you score 1-2 goals and you are cruising or a better opponent could punish us. Ten Hag should take notice

[Cruijff]

miserable stuff in the city centre of Kiev where some Dynamo and Ajax fans get into a clash with some fireworks and the sound like several bombs go off.

https://voetbalflitsen.nl/nieuws/r0mkc1 ... t-oekraine

Also pretty curious moment when one of the Ukrainian policemen at the away section is spending his time swiping some girls on Tinder.
https://voetbalflitsen.nl/wtf/n4gzrk/wt ... eren-video

[Cruijff]

Phew. On top since the 10th minute but refused to make it comfortable. Maybe just unlucky but we'll have to put those chances away to compete for 3rd place in the CL group.

You are a pessimist!!! Ajax will win the group and move strongly into the knock out round.

That would be fine with me ;)

To be fair this Ajax squad is the strongest we’ve had in ages, so why not?

Yeahhh come on Mr. Thomas!!
Even with players like Danny Hoesen, Niki Zimling, Mike van der Hoorn etc etc Ajax competed for 3th and 2th place and most often we were much closer to second place than to fourth.

That 'famous year' in a group with Real Madrid, Lyon and Zagreb it was unbelievable close and in a group with Barcelona, AC Milan (at home 1-1, away 0-0) and Celtic we only missed 1 goal to go further.

[Tom_]

Maybe this is a "loser" mentality but I think playing in the EL after the winterstop would be as much fun as staying in the CL. We would have a better chance of a more games in Europe. I enjoy the atmosphere and tension of watching those games, so...

At least I know you read my posts now :P

[Cruijff]

At least I know you read my posts now :P

Haha.

Maybe this is a "loser" mentality but I think playing in the EL after the winterstop would be as much fun as staying in the CL. We would have a better chance of a more games in Europe. I enjoy the atmosphere and tension of watching those games, so...

Yeahh for sure the Europa League is a nicer tournament. Cool opponents, some exotic destinations, the Ajax stadium completely packed and players and fans going full for it. Ajax can beat any opponent in there. Teams like Olympique Lyon and Schalke 04 go full for this league as well, but just got outplayed by Ajax agressive desire to win.
Clubs like Napoli and Tottenham Hotspurs have behaved arrogant many times with bringing subs in half empty stadiums and then often get punished by elimination.

The CL is just an awful UEFA creation all about money and every season get tuned more in the needs of rich like PSG, Real and Man City making sure that Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern and Juventus get an easy way to the quarter of semi finals every year.


I prefer EL over CL for the 'cup feeling' & the extra knock-out round because the cup has more participants and of course for Ajax' chances of really going for a run in there.
But not for only financial but also for mental aspects I prefer this year after 3 succesful qualification rounds Ajax to show that we are not a second hand club but an opponent to be feared. When the money wasting Manchester City comes to Amsterdam they should just know they can lose with 3-1 at any given night!

[Orange14]

I agree with mis amigos Tom and Cruijff. the only problem with EL football is that matches are on Thursday night leaving a shorter turn around for the weekend league games. UEFA is really destroying the Champions League by giving so many automatic qualifications to the bigger leagues. I think that television ratings have dropped in countries that do not make it into the competition and that has to be worrying for UEFA. Of course they did this to prevent a revolt by the bigger clubs who 'might' go off and start their own super league competition.

[Cruijff]

I agree with mis amigos Tom and Cruijff. the only problem with EL football is that matches are on Thursday night leaving a shorter turn around for the weekend league games.

Yeahhh as the EL can bring you late evening games at far destinations like Kazakhstan, Israël, Russia or Armenia the Thursday - Sunday rhitm can be rough.

At the other hand the Tuesdays and Wednesdays don't give an ideal schedule either. PSV will have after playing Bate Borisov on Wednesday a quick one on Saturday while Ajax can now rest from Tuesday until Sunday.
The switch between Tuesday and Wednesday games all the time made Ajax play Kiev at home on 22 August, then for the league Emmen on the 25th and then already travelling one and a half day later for playing away in Kiev on Tuesday 28.

Quite often you see that teams drop points before they play their next CL game instead of directly after.

UEFA is really destroying the Champions League by giving so many automatic qualifications to the bigger leagues. I think that television ratings have dropped in countries that do not make it into the competition and that has to be worrying for UEFA. Of course they did this to prevent a revolt by the bigger clubs who 'might' go off and start their own super league competition.

It's all about the money and both professional football players and young fans don't see a lot of difference between a Playstation or Xbox game where Real Madrid and Barcelona get 5 stars and play computer football.
Champions League is a top brand which generates top money but the real football fans are losing interest.

I completely can understand C. Ronaldo's desire to leave Madrid for Juventus. No football fan gives a sh*t about which Spanish team would win the CL (+ also EL) final next year, winning the cup with a side from a less performing country is making history.

[Orange14]

Let's also not ignore the fact that Ajax had to win three qualifying rounds to make it to the group stage. This was quite an accomplishment given the number of fixtures over the past weeks.

[Cruijff]

Let's also not ignore the fact that Ajax had to win three qualifying rounds to make it to the group stage. This was quite an accomplishment given the number of fixtures over the past weeks.

I liked it a lot. Seeing Ajax live in Johan Cruijff Arena playing very well on a Wednesday evening against Dynamo Kiev, returning to the stadium three days later for Ajax - FC Emmen.

Not again in this season we will have 6 weeks in a row a midweek game. In fact, when the Dutch national team will play Peru and France within a few weeks there will be 'a long gap' in September without an Ajax game.

[Cruijff]

Let's also not ignore the fact that Ajax had to win three qualifying rounds to make it to the group stage.

It just gives a good vibe that we played an Austrian team, one from Belgium and one from Ukraine and we beat them all. Non of these countries were performing less on the UEFA rankings than Holland did, recently.

That the consequences will be not starting in EL but in CL because of winning these rounds ok let's just deal with it.

[Cruijff]

This is very nice and will only 3 minutes and 6 seconds of your time.

All Ajax CL group stage goals of this season:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GS5jAc3ZuYo