The new season also is on for the European cups. FC Utrecht defeated the mighty ?? and now face Lech Poznan from Poland and PSV has to deal with Croatian NK Osijek. Ajax has the difficult task to get passed French OGC Nice. What do we expect?
Because of the recent tragedy, it is difficult to figure out how Ajax do. they got a really bad draw (nothing new there as their recent CL group draws were always bad even when Gullit was pulling out the lots). I am not optimistic for this match and just hope that they can come away with a 0-0 draw.
Given the bad results the top clubs of the French league digested in that stadium it will require a top effort of this Ajax with some vital inexperienced players. But hopefully the match is the perfect distraction to the sorrow of the last few weeks.
Very good result for Ajax, especially given the first half when they werenot playing well. Wondering about the physical readyness of the French team for matches like this. Looked to me like Ajax had the upperhand physicaly.
Glad Ajax got the away goal. The Nice keeper looks shaky so perhaps a couple of more goals will come in Amsterdam. It's still going to be difficult to qualify as Hoffenheim are the only weak team in the next round if Ajax progress. Nethrlands need PSV and Utrecht to step up tomorrow in EL qualifying.
I was under the impression this was the only hurdle between the Group stage for Ajax. This sucks. The next opponent isnot likely to get weaker.
It's been this way for the last couple of years because of the slipping UEFA coefficient for the league. The only good thing is that Ajax have a good rating because of the EL run last season (22 added points) and won't have to face Sevilla, Napoli or Liverpool (and perhaps Sporting) if they go through.
We REALLY need Ajax to qualify, because we still have a ways to go before we catch Portugal in coefficient points
Certain pot fills Pot 1: Real Madrid Bayern München Chelsea Juventus Benfica AS Monaco Spartak Moskou Shakhtar Donetsk Pot 2 Barcelona Atlético Madrid Paris Saint-Germain Borussia Dortmund Manchester City FC Porto Manchester United Pot 3 Tottenham Hotspur FC Basel Anderlecht Pot 4 AS Roma Besiktas Feyenoord RB Leipzig "Best" case scenario for Feyenoord: Pot 1: Spartak Moskou Pot 2: FC Porto Pot 3: FC Basel "Worst" case scenario for Feyenoord: Pot 1: Real Madrid Pot 2: PSG Pot 3: Tottenham/Liverpool or as worse: Pot 1: Bayern Pot 2: Barcelona Pot 3: Tottenham/Liverpool We would be extremely lucky if we would get my "best" case scenario.
^^Good luck on the draw. Ajax got poor draws each of the four years they qualified as Dutch champions.
PSV lose at home 0-1 to a Croatian side I've never heard of and Utrecht in a scoreless draw. Not looking good for Dutch coefficient if these teams cannot progress. Cocu might get sacked if they lose the away tie.
FC Utrecht managed to squeeze them selfs into the play off round and now faces Zenith St Petersburg. Oh dear. Ajax faces Rosenborg.
FC Utrecht so far dominant against Zenit, which is impressive in itself, but given mutations in squad even more so. Ten Hag is a top coach.
From what I hear they missed major chances. Hope they will not regret it. At least they have got a clean sheet.
It looks like a pretty dire for Dutch football and the coefficient this year unless Vitesse and Feyenoord can perform miracles.
Vitesse has an interesting group: Lazio, OGC Nice en Zulte Waregem. NOS Teletekst 815 OETBAL Vitesse loot Lazio,Nice en Zulte Vitesse neemt het in de groepsfase van de Europa League op tegen Lazio, OGC Nice en Zulte Waregem. Lazio eindigde als vierde in Italië.De club van De Vrij en Kishna trof vier keer eerder een Nederlandse ploeg:winst en verlies tegen PSV (2001) en verlies en een remise tegen Feyenoord (2000). Sneijders Nice,de Franse nummer drie van vorig jaar,schakelde deze maand Ajax uit in de CL-voorronde:1-1 en 2-2. Zulte Waregem,met de Nederlander Walsh en de Belgische oud-Vitessenaar Kaya, trof driemaal een Nederlandse opponent: 0-3 tegen Ajax (2006) en 0-2 en 0-3 tegen PSV (2013).Zulte Waregem werd vorig seizoen zesde en won de beker.
Vitesse is in an interesting group: Lazio, OGC Nice en Zulte Waregem. NOS Teletekst 815 OETBAL Vitesse loot Lazio,Nice en Zulte Vitesse neemt het in de groepsfase van de Europa League op tegen Lazio, OGC Nice en Zulte Waregem. Lazio eindigde als vierde in Italië.De club van De Vrij en Kishna trof vier keer eerder een Nederlandse ploeg:winst en verlies tegen PSV (2001) en verlies en een remise tegen Feyenoord (2000). Sneijders Nice,de Franse nummer drie van vorig jaar,schakelde deze maand Ajax uit in de CL-voorronde:1-1 en 2-2. Zulte Waregem,met de Nederlander Walsh en de Belgische oud-Vitessenaar Kaya, trof driemaal een Nederlandse opponent: 0-3 tegen Ajax (2006) en 0-2 en 0-3 tegen PSV (2013).Zulte Waregem werd vorig seizoen zesde en won de beker. NOS Teletekst 817 OETBAL Europa League/groep K Donderdag 14 september: VITESSE - Lazio - Zulte Waregem - OGC Nice - Donderdag 28 september: OGC Nice - VITESSE - Lazio - Zulte Waregem - Donderdag 19 oktober: Zulte Waregem - VITESSE - OGC Nice - Lazio - Donderdag 2 november: VITESSE - Zulte Waregem - Lazio - OGC Nice - Donderdag 23 november: Lazio - VITESSE - OGC Nice - Zulte Waregem - Donderdag 7 december: VITESSE - OGC Nice - Zulte Waregem - Lazio -
I hope Vitesse performs better in the EL than this match against AZ. They were swamped by the AZ attacks. Watched the BBC highlights of ManCity against Bournemouth. Ake wasnot impressive. What was surprising is the defensive vulnerability of ManCity. That guy in the centre next to Kompany isnot very reliable. Hope we can exploit that.
Both Holland and Belgium are having a nightmare in Europe. At least with the draw Vitesse and Essevee shared the points even though it helps neither Holland's nor Belgium's coefficient. => This season's champions of Holland will enter in the 3rd qualifying round next year (Champions route), instead of a direct spot in the CL group phase (which last season's champions received). That direct CL spot would have been regained if the current nightmare in Europe hadn't been this bad. - Holland will be overtaken by at least one country (2017/18 ranking) ... Austria is about to do it but also Czech Rep., Greece and Switzerland are closing in fast ... Basel will probably earn those 5 bonus points for the qualification to the next CL round (Switzerland is virtually above Greece now) - possibly Holland's 2017/18 ranking drops even further ... 13th place means an extra CL qualifying round for the champions of Holland => This season's Dutch cup winners also have lost out on a direct EL spot compared to last season's cup winners ... due to the current nightmare in Europe Holland could again fall short of 12th place (no direct EL spot and an extra qualifying round for the 3rd placed team) - Holland could be overtaken by two of Austria, Czech Rep., Greece and Switzerland ... it will be very tight to grab 12th place and a direct EL spot
What we saw this round with Feyenoord and Vitesse is the big law of European top football that a chance must be taken. Feyenoord with a win could all of a sudden had been in a position with chances to become second, but we needed several chances to get one goal and Sjachtar needed 2 for 2. The same you saw in the Vitesse match. Chances wasted. Worse, position in the UEFA coefficient ranking wasted.
When the reorganization of the CL takes place, Italy, Germany, England, and Spain all get four guaranteed places in the group play. Add in the other guaranteed places and it's always looked bleak for Dutch clubs. Only sure way to get in going forward would be to win the Europa League but as we saw with Ajax last season that is difficult if a top tier team such as ManU makes it to the final of that competition. Look at this season, Arsenal will be fighting their tails off to win the EL. CL is only for the richest of the clubs and nothing will change that. Remember Financial Fair Play? Clubs have only gotten a mild slap on the hands for violations. the whole system of football is pretty corrupt these days.
If Ajax had won the EL final Holland would still have been ranked 13th (2016/17 Ranking). PSV advancing from their CL group, a while back, helped a lot to avoid a bigger drop. It could have been worse than 13th place (i.e. Holland were in danger of being limited to 4 teams in Europe with 1 instead of 2 teams in the CL Q rounds). Ajax don't need to win the EL final but all Dutch clubs that compete in Europe have to improve their results ... even with one club rambo-ing it, others need to chip in too. The impact of the Champions League 2018-2021 reform will be felt starting this season (of the domestic competition). The reform won't harm Holland (in Europe) next year ... on the contrary Holland has gained from it ... i.e. softer League Route opponents ... clubs from the top 4 countries won't be in the play-offs anymore, e.g. since the reform you don't need to beat Man Utd to get into the CL group phase ... here's one of my earlier posts about it.
http://www.insideworldfootball.com/...e44-5m-europa-league-win-twice-nearest-rival/ €3m more had Ajax won the final but with 16m as runners-up they still did OK. I believe the main gains for Ajax will be the transfer value added to the players that showed themselves on a bigger stage.