Merciless Bayern hammering kills Ajax hopes: 4-0
4 (2) - 0 (0)
UEFA Champions League
Olympiastadion, Munich, Germany
Tuesday, 28 September, 2004
The conclusion that had to be drawn
after six fixtures last season must now be drawn after
only two: Ajax are not good enough to make any kind
of impact whatsoever in the Champions League. German
powerhouse Bayern München made this crystal
clear at the Olympiastadion in the Bavarian capital,
where Ajax received its most painful spanking in
European competition since 1980-1981 (at the time it was a
5-1 pasting by... Bayern München). The Amsterdammers
were clueless upfront, powerless in midfield and leaky in
defense - and outclassed by the Germans on every
aspect of the game. The man to translate these
painful facts to the scoreboard was the only Dutchmen on
the pitch who performed on an international top level: Roy
Makaay. He netted three times, knocking Ajax out almost
single-handedly: 4-0.
Let's get Ajax's good
moments out of the way first. They had two. After
14 minutes one of Ajax's rare good attacks culminated in a
sharp, low Wesley Sonck cross, which was only
just missed by Rafaël van der Vaart. The red and
white could have taken the lead there - and it would not even
have been undeserved at that point: Ajax played well in the
first twenty-odd minutes. The second (and last) good
moment followed in the 67th minute, as Van der Vaart cut
into the penalty box from the right (launched by Mauro Rosales)
and released a low shot, which was saved at the near
post by Oliver Kahn. The only other noteworthy moment from an
Ajax point of view was a fine run across midfield by
by Mauro Rosales, who was brutally mowed down
by Salihamidzic. The defender was lucky to see 'only'
a yellow card for the foul.
Mauro Rosales. [Photo: Ajax.nl]
And that was it, from an Ajax
perspective. Otherwise it was a historically disastrous evening
for Ajax.
The Amsterdammers looked okay in
the first twenty minutes of the game, but even in that phase
the hosts could have scored twice to decide the game even
earlier than they did: after an erratic Grygera backheader to
Bogdan Lobont, Pizarro managed to tap the ball past
Lobont, but inches wide of the Ajax
netting. Zé Roberto and Michael Ballack got
open shooting opportunities from dangerous positions (also
after poor Ajax defending), but saw their attempts go
inches wide and get punched out of the
goalmouth, respectively.
Ajax remained upright in the first
twenty minutes, but nevertheless: the above
moments of defensive negligence already heralded a
disaster. The tragedy really started in the 28th minute,
as Owen Hargreaves' long kick forward ripped the
entire Ajax defense to shreds (where was 'last man' Johnny
Heitinga?) and Roy Makaay's magnificent first-time volley from
outside the penalty area slammed into the upper ninety
behind Bogdan Lobont: 1-0.
The goal hit Ajax like a hammer.
The Amsterdammers were painfully outplayed during the remainder
of the first half. Nevertheless, they seemed to make it to the
half-time break with 'only' a 1-0 deficit. The
amateurishness of the Amsterdam outfit was best
underscored by the fact that they eventually didn't: Roy
Makaay's lethal backward header on a free kick from the right,
mere seconds before the half-time whistle, made it 2-0 and
effectively knocked Ajax out. "It was over after that second
goal," coach Ronald Koeman said after the game.
No-one knows exactly what
the Ajax boss told his men in the dressing room, but one
thing's for sure: it did not help. The first fifteen
minutes of the second half were even more
devastating than the latter fifteen minutes of the first.
Ajax's hopes to pull a goal back and - perhaps - get back into
the game were blown to pieces in no-time. It must have
been extremely frustrating for the Ajax coach to see how his
defenders (with the exception of Nigel de Jong) continued their
slapstick act. After only seven minutes Pizarro was allowed a
free passage to the Ajax goal. The striker slipped past Lobont,
who then decided to shamelessly push Pizarro over. Who
else than Roy Makaay did the job from the penalty spot, for his
hattrick against his countrymen: 3-0.
It all went lightning-fast in this
phase. Ajax had hardly kicked off when Bayern's fourth was
calmly tapped against the netting by Zé Roberto, after a
truly wonderful attack using the full width of the pitch,
via Pizarro, Kuffour and Makaay. The Ajax
defense? Heaven knows what they were doing. A stuffing of
historic proportions seemed ahead now. 6-0? 7-0? Bayern
freewheeled, while Ajax staggered around the arena
like living dead. A part of the 3,000 travelling Ajax
supporters, meanwhile, got rid of their frustrations by
starting a fight with German police.
Tomas Galasek eludes Owen Hargreaves. [Photo: Ajax.nl]
Ajax did not get
hammered by 6-0 or 7-0 in the end, but for
no other reason than the fact that Bayern took it
easy in the latter twenty minutes. Koeman brought Nicolae Mitea
for Tomás Galásek, who had a poor return to
first team action after a month of injury trouble, and
Daniël de Ridder for Mauro Rosales. With them in the
team Ajax were actually allowed to knock the ball around during
considerable stretches, and even look good every now and then.
It was irrelevant. What mattered was the simple fact that Ajax
were (once again) utterly incapable of even
threatening the defense of an esteemed European
opponent. It felt like Ajax were never
going to score a goal against Bayern, a feeling Ajax supporters
also had during the game against Juventus, two weeks ago.
"The first goal was particularly
painful," said Ronald Koeman after the game, referring to
Makaay's first. "Grygera was supposed to mark Makaay
and Heitinga was supposed to cover him in his back. I
did not say this once, but at least eight times or so. (...)
Nigel de Jong and Maxwell were our only players able to
keep up at this level. Which means we are not good enough
to perform at this level. That's a harsh, but inevitable
conclusion."
In theory, Ajax can still qualify
for the second round of the Champions League. But that's in
theory. In practice Ajax played 180 minutes
of Champions League football against Juventus and Bayern
München, in which the team never looked like
they were going to score. Not the fact that Ajax lost the
first two games has killed the Amsterdammers'
hopes, but the way in which it happened. It explains
the travelling fans' painful chants towards the end of the
game: "Why don't you sell the whole lot?", "Everyone's got a
striker except us" and "Zlaaaatan! Zlaaaaatan!" It marked
the cynical end of a black, black night in Ajax's
European history. Ronald Koeman: "We will now have to
focus on making it to the UEFA Cup." (MP)
GOALS
Referee: Sars
(France)
Yellow cards: Obodai, Sneijder (Ajax),
Salihamidzic, Ballack (FC Bayern München)
Attendance: 50,000
Ajax line-up:
Lobont; Grygera, Heitinga (64. Escudé), De Jong,
Maxwell; Obodai, Galásek (52. Mitea), Sneijder, Van der
Vaart; Rosales (70. De Ridder), Sonck.
FC Bayern München
line-up: Kahn; Kuffour, Linke, Lucio, Salihamidzic;
Ballack, Frings (81. Hashemian), Hargreaves (81. Jeremies),
Pizarro (58. Deisler); Zé Roberto, Makaay.
Other Group C
result:
Juventus vs Maccabi
Tel-Aviv 1-0 (
UEFA.com match report)
Group C
standings:
Related links:
