AC Milan 'mission impossible' for depleted Ajax: 0-1
0 (0) - 1
(0)
Champions League, Group Stage
Amsterdam Arena, Amsterdam
Wednesday, 26 November, 2003
Ajax's fourth Champions League clash with AC Milan
in eight months' time did not bring Ajax the long awaited win.
In fact, the stumble (0-1) was never as 'logical' and
inevitable as it was this time. Quite bluntly, it was a
'mission impossible' for an injury-battered, depleted Ajax
squad. They did what they possibly could, but the absence
of Van der Vaart, Grygera (suspended),
Pienaar, Trabelsi, O'Brien and Sonck (injured)
was too much for the young Amsterdam outfit. As the only real
striker left in the Ajax squad (Zlatan Ibrahmovic)
limped off the pitch injured in the 40th minute - and the great
Andriy Shevchenko gave the Italians the lead shortly after the
break, it became clear that AC Milan was (yet again) too high a
hurdle. Ajax worked with passion, but was unable to create
a single real scoring chance against the rock-solid Italian
defense. The almost inevitable outcome: Ajax 0, AC
Milan 1.
Andriy Shevchenko sprints around
Julien Escude and Johnny Heitinga. [Photo: ANP]
Coach Ronald Koeman announced it the day before the game:
given the number of suspended and injured players Ajax was -
for once - going to adjust its tactics to the opponent and play
in a more defensive formation. The result was a 5-3-2 line-up,
in which Yakubu played alongside Escudé, with
Johnny Heitinga as the extra man in front of them. In
midfield Tomás Galásek was assisted by Anthony
Obodai, who made his Champions League debut three days after
his first Eredivisie appearance. Offensively, Ajax relied on
the creativity of Wesley Sneijder and Zlatan Ibrahimovic - and
the pace of young Nicolae Mitea. With an average age of 22
years and 131 days it was the youngest-but-one team to
ever start a Champions League match.
The three Milan games played this year brought
Ajax a 0-0 draw and defeats by the respective scores of 3-2 and
1-0. On all three occasions Ajax would have deserved more. This
was not the case in fixture number four. In spite of the fact
that Ajax had a lot of possession and applied pressure in
the second half, AC Milan was constantly in control of the
game. Ajax had a nervous start. The Italians could have
taken the lead as early as in the 6th minute, as Filippo
Inzaghi suddenly found himself totally unmarked on the edge of
the penalty box. His shot was aimed far too high, so that
it hardly felt like an enormous scoring chance. But it
was. In fact, a better one than Ajax would get all
night.
A win was never in it for the Amsterdammers, especially
after the substitution of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the only
real striker on the team and also the only tall,
physically strong offensive player available to Koeman.
The Swede has been suffering from a persistent groin injury for
several months now and played numerous games on painkillers.
The injury manifested itself at the most unfortunate
moment, so that Ajax had to play the entire second half with a
'false' central forward (Jari Litmanen), assisted by three
hard-working and fast, but also tiny and light-weight wingers
(Mitea, later Sikora and Wamberto).
Zlatan Ibrahimovic rushes past
Laursen, but had to be
replaced before the half-time break. [Photo: Gerard van
Hees/Ajax.nl]
Although it may have looked differently in the second half
AC Milan was the better side throughout the game, in spite
of the fact that their tactics were as negative and gray as
always. The few tiny chances Milan created (such as a Pirlo
thru-pass Inzaghi almost managed to push his toe against)
were the most dangerous moments on the night.
Jari Litmanen, quite remarkably, had a dreadful game. He
failed to choose position as a central forward and usually
remained in midfield, which left Ajax's feather-light forward
line (Wamberto and Sikora) all alone, amidst a multitude of
physically superior defenders. Litmanen's passing was weaker
than ever before: almost every pass was erratic. It
explains why goalkeeper Dida only had to save one Ajax shot in
90 minutes: it came from the foot of Maxwell, in
the 61st minute, as Milan had already taken a
decisive lead. All other Ajax attempts, such as a Nigel de Jong
header in the first half, went over the cross-bar.
AC Milan seemed to have come to Amsterdam for a point,
but must have felt - just like the 50,000 spectators in the
ArenA - that their chance to pocket the full three points was
going to come. The inevitable happened seven minutes after
the half-time break, as Cafu rushed forward over the left
flank. His perfect cross was an inch too high for
Abubakari Yakubu and landed perfectly on the chest of Andriy
Shevchenko. The superb striker remained stone-cold in
front of Bogdan Lobont: 0-1.
There was no other choice for Ajax than to attack.
And so they did, passionately, but with too little
force to worry the Milan defense, led in sovereign style
by Paolo Maldini. The miracle Ajax was hoping for was never in
sight, in spite of the fact that Nigel de Jong had a great game
- and Anthony Obodai could be proud of his European debut.
The Ghanese, by the way, sustained an injury early in the
second half and had to be replaced. He will be out for an
estimated two weeks - and will surely miss Sunday's clash with
Feyenoord.
To make things even worse, bad news arrived from Vigo, where
Celta had taken the lead against Club Brugge, the worst
possible development for Ajax. A
second announcement from Vigo, however, was the
reason why Ajax - ultimately - could keep its head up high
and remain optimistic. While the players were swapping
shirts good tidings appeared on the score-board: Celta 1,
Club Brugge 1. The Belgians equalized in stoppage time. Which
means that Ajax will have everything in its own hand on 09
December in Bruges: a win will see the Amsterdammers
through. If Celta doesn't win in Milan, even a draw will be
enough.
"I want to compliment the team for keeping up with AC
Milan for so long", said Koeman after the game. According
to the Ajax coach the defeat was 'relatively easy to
accept'. "Look at all the players we were missing. It was
very hard for us. Of course we hoped that the ball would
somehow fall into the right place for us. But that's not
enough. Out of the four games we played against AC Milan this
was the one in which we had the smallest chances (...) I can't
blame anyone for anything tonight."
Just like everybody else at the ArenA, however, the Ajax
coach remained optimistic. Koeman: "I am very happy with the
result in Vigo. If Milan does its sportive duty and beats
Vigo even a draw will see us through. I am disappointed with
the result, but yet very happy that we still have everything in
our own hands."
Meanwhile, the countdown to another top fixture has begun.
Three days to prepare for the first 'Classic' of the season, in
yet another sold-out Amsterdam ArenA. Van der Vaart and Grygera
will most certainly be back for that game. Zlatan and Sonck are
expected to make it also. Which is good news, as it is about
time for Ajax to beat the arch-enemy in Amsterdam. Visits to
Rotterdam have been succesful in recent years, but the last win
in the Dutch capital was booked a remarkably long
time ago: on 2 May 1999. (MP)
GOALS
- 52' 0-1 Andriy Shevchenko
Referee: Meier (Switzerland)
Yellow cards: Galásek, Yakubu (Ajax),
Inzaghi (AC Milan)
Attendance: 50,210
Ajax line-up: Lobont; De Jong, Yakubu,
Heitinga, Escudé, Maxwell; Obodai (54. Wamberto),
Galásek, Sneijder; Ibrahimovic (40. Litmanen), Mitea
(76. Sikora).
AC Milan line-up: Dida; Cafu, Costacurta,
Laursen (46. Pancaro), Maldini; Gattuso, Kaka (76. Rui Costa),
Pirlo, Seedorf; Inzaghi (71. Ambrosini), Shevchenko.
Other Group H result:
Celta de Vigo - Club Brugge 1-1 (
UEFA.com match report)
Group H Standings after Matchday
5:
- AC Milan: 5-10 (3-1)
- Ajax: 5-6
(5-5)
- Celta de Vigo: 5-6 (5-5)
- Club Brugge: 5-5 (3-5)
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