13 FEB 2019; Ajax - Real Madrid; Champions League

[kezme44]

oh im watching in spanish, no english stream for me. the commentators were saying it was judged goalie interference. but you are right, no goal. lets get them in the 2nd

[Amol]

Ugh down 0-1. Have not been playing the same in the 2nd half. Have been more missed passes for sure.

[Tom_]

Wow, now they've called an offside on a ball that went backwards. Add to that bizarre offside on Tadic when he was inside his own half, and this has been Europa League-level refereeing weirdness, in my opinion

[Tom_]

bet they review the foul on the turnover now

[SPL]

great goal actually let us have that one

[Tom_]

Honestly Ziyech has been terrible today, but he was in the right place there. No less than we deserve. Let's get another now

[Amol]

bet they review the foul on the turnover now

I was so sure that they would do that.

[Amol]

How do they not stop the game for the foul on Frenkie? Oh well who am I kidding.

[Tom_]

I mean, it might not have been a foul, but **why didn't the ref take a look**?

[kezme44]

oh dolberg, gotta take that chance...

[SPL]

Unlucky to lose but we played very well tonight full credit to the players. Real will win the 2nd leg but no disgrace losing to them.

[Orange14]

What a great display of character by this Ajax team but two well taken counter attacks by Madrid were the difference in a match that was pretty close though I would tip the advantage to the Ajax high pressure. We need two goals in the Bernebeu next month and I'm not sure that we can climb that hill (BUT I seem to remember a Europa cup return match against ManU several years ago when we almost won that tie and did bring it on at Old Trafford). I think the match officiating evened out over the whole game. There were some calls that went Madrid's way and some that went Ajax's. I'm still puzzled by the VAR call but I'm not an expert on officiating.

I glad ten Hag got them playing attacking football but wonder WHY they don't do this week in and week out in the league. If the played like this they would be undefeated!

Player Ratings:

Onana (6.5) - decent enough match with a couple of nice saves and some good kicking; really had no chance on the two goals
Tagliafico (7.5) - perpetual motion all match long and did really well; too bad the goal was called back
Blind (6.5) - didn't have the needed quickness against this team but kept good position
de Ligt (7.5) - steadied the defense all night
Mazraoui (5) - really tough on him to defend Vinicious who is blazing fast and unfortunately he was isolated when they got the first goal
Schöne (6.5) - good enough on the night and his lack of quickness was never exposed
de Jong (6.5) - deep lying but kept good control of the ball
van de Beek (7) - pressed all over the field and had some good runs but the pass never came
Neres (7.5) - great pass to Ziyech on the goal and was very active; still don't know why he didn't get a couple of foul calls when he was bundled over
Tadic (7.5) - just like he played against Bayer; all over the field and always a point of danger
Ziyech (7) - dispossessed a couple of times but otherwise solid on the night
Dolberg (5) - had a couple of chances but slipped on the pitch and sent the shots high

On any given night this team can compete with any other club in Europe. It's really sad to think that a lot of these players won't be in Amsterdam next season.

[Amol]

No Ramos in the return game. Might turn out to be huge.

We need to be playing Neres more often. Hopefully this allows us to return to form and be ready for the return game.

I still have faith.

[Orange14]

From a Dutch Referee blog: https://www.dutchreferee.com/var-disall ... ns-league/ He agrees that it was a correct call.

[Amol]

From a Dutch Referee blog: https://www.dutchreferee.com/var-disall ... ns-league/ He agrees that it was a correct call.

It may have been a correct call - but would the ref have invoked VAR if Real had scored that goal. We'll never know for sure - but my guess is he wouldn't have.

[Orange14]

From a Dutch Referee blog: https://www.dutchreferee.com/var-disall ... ns-league/ He agrees that it was a correct call.

It may have been a correct call - but would the ref have invoked VAR if Real had scored that goal. We'll never know for sure - but my guess is he wouldn't have.

I think VAR reviews every goal and it's the VAR referee who alerts the match ref.

[Orange14]

Here is a bit of history to recall. Back in 2012 we played ManU in the first Europa League knockout tie. We took 3rd place in the CL with a group of Real Madrid, Lyon, and Dinamo Zagreb and ended up drawing ManU in the first knock out match of the second tier tournament. Ajax always seems to be unlucky in such draws. Ajax lost the first match in Amsterdam 0-2 and looked to have no chance in the return tie in Manchester. Ashley Young and Javier Hernandez had the ManU goals.

The return match was thrilling. ManU got the first goal at minute six by Hernandez and then Ozbilitz equaled at minute 38. Alderweireld put Ajax ahead in the 88th minute 2-1 and another goal would have given Ajax the tie on away goals. IIRC, Ajax had a couple of good shots (I think Daley Blind had one of them) but couldn't find the back of the net.

Ajax players in the second match were: Vermeer, Koppers, Vertonghen, Alderweireld, van Rhijn, Anita, Eriksen, de Jong, Lodeiro, Sulejmani, Ozbilitz with Klaasen, Serero, and Blind coming on as subs.

Here's my archived match report:

Re: 23 Feb 2012: Manchester United FC - Ajax

Who would have thunk it?? Down to the final seconds with a chance to pull off what would have been a huge victory (better than just winning 2-1). I think we have to be proud of this club and that FdB had them ready to play. Sure there were some ManU starters missing but this Ajax team took the fight to them rather than just going through the motions. Ko must be ecstatic in stands at Old Trafford.

Player ratings:

Vermeer (7) - came up with all the big stops and really had no chance when Chicherito broke in
Van Rhijn (7) - solid on defense and went forward well
Alderweireld (8) - just a rock in the middle and got the 2nd goal on a great header
Vertonghen (8) - it really should be a 7 because of the poor pass that set up the ManU goal but that was the only mistake that he made all match long
Koppers (6) - played well in the first half and took some punishment on a couple bad hits; hope he's OK
Anita (7) - great in the midfield and had to drop back to left back when Koppers didn't come back for the 2nd half; good ball distribution
De Jong (6) - had to spend much of the 2nd half as the holding midfielder and really didn't do much after that
Eriksen (7) - good match and I assume his coming off was pre-determined to give him some rest as it didn't look like he was injured
Ozbiliz (7) - well taken goal and some general good play but erratic on occasion trying to go through 2 men
Lodeiro (6) - really not much of a factor as a striker and it's hard for him to hold the ball up
Sulejmani (7) - best performance of the past five matches both offensively and tracking back
Klassen (6) - some poor decision making that led to turnovers when there might have been some good opportunities
Serrero (5) - really didn't make any difference in the match and was too easily dispossessed
Blind (6) - came on late and did OK pushing up to try to get the deciding goal

The lack of a striker was really evident today. We just didn't have that added ooomph to make a difference in the final third. ManU were quite disappointing overall and if I were Sir Alex Ferguson I really would be unhappy with the team's play. Maybe they were trying to play rope-a-dope and figure on getting some counterattacking goals. Well it didn't work and as a result they put the tie in jeopardy in the last five minutes.