Whilst an appearance in the Europa League might be something of a comedown for us Manchester United fans, a thought should be spared for Ajax who, in days gone by, were one of the best and most successful sides in the history of the game.
In the early seventies, they won the European Cup three years in a row and won it again in 1995 but lost to Juventus in the 1996 Final.
That team of the mid-nineties is the Ajax team which I remember the most as it was full of absolutely top-class players – Van Der Sar, Reiziger, Blind, Rijkaard, Frank and Ronald DeBoer, Seedorf, George, Davids, Litmanen, Overmars, Kanu, Kluivert. The Holland team of the time was basically Ajax in a different shirt.
The club is still recognised as one of the best for bringing through young talent but, probably due to the way the money goes in football these days, most of these players now end up at “bigger” clubs rather than staying with Ajax and this has been reflected in the club’s fortunes in recent years for whilst they still remain one of the big clubs in Holland (they actually won the Eredivisie last season), 1995 was the last time that they enjoyed any success outside of Holland.
So, this tie is something of a clash of the fallen giants. We were both knocked out of the Champions League in the Group Stages after winning our respective domestic leagues last season and whilst I am convinced that Fergie doesn’t view this with anywhere near the same kind of importance as he does the Premier League, going out of two European competitions at the earliest possible stage would obviously not be great and I’m sure that whoever Fergie puts out tonight will display the appropriate competitive spirit once they take to the field.
As for the game itself, I really have no idea. There are just so many unknowns around both our opponents, our own team selection, the attitudes of the two teams towards this competition (although I suspect this is bigger for Ajax than it is for us because they’re some way off the pace in their domestic league this season and seem unlikely to retain their title).
It’s really one to just watch and enjoy rather than get too heavily involved with on the betting front but I have a fancy for a few goals to be scored tonight. Ajax have shown themselves able to knock in a few this season but have also, on occasion, let in a few – much like ourselves really.
The bet is 2 points OVER 2.5 goals @ 1.80 with Bet365.