0829.html
Ajax to face Inter, Lyon and Rosenborg in Champions
League
29 August: Ajax have drawn Inter Milan, Lyon and Rosenborg
in Group D of today's Champions League draw in Monaco. Ajax's
first match in Europe's most prestigious club competition will
be on Tuesday, 17 September when they play host to Lyon,
kick-off 20:45 CET.
Tricky, but it could have been worse, and there certainly
are chances. That was the common opinion at the Amsterdam
ArenA, after the draw for the first round of the Champions
League, at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco, where Ajax saw
Olympique Lyonnais (France), Norwegian 'giant killers'
Rosenborg BK and Italian giants Internazionale coming out of
the bowl as its opposition in Group D.
| |
 |
Andre Berdgolmo, the only link between
Ajax and Rosenborg, is pictured here from his days with the
Norwegian club. The two sides have never met in
competition.
|
'Easy games' simply don't exist for a team that succumbed to
Lausanne Sports and FC Copenhagen in recent seasons, but
nevertheless it's a fair conclusion that it could have been
worse indeed. Instead of Italy's runner-up of last season
(Inter), Ajax could have gotten European champions Real Madrid,
or the actual champions of Italy (Juventus). Olympique Lyonnais
could have been AS Roma, Liverpool or German champions,
Borussia Dortmund. And Rosenborg could have been Newcastle
United.
Ajax has also reasons to be satisfied with the geographical
situation of its opponents. There are no tremendously long
trips to, for example, Galatasaray (Turkey) or Maccabi Haifa
(Israël, playing its home games in Cyprus). And there are
no trips to countries where circumstances can be extreme
(Russia, Ukraine, Greece). Milan, Lyon and Trondheim seem
attractive destinations for travelling fans from The
Netherlands.
The draw has some consequences for Ajax' domestic agenda.
Due to the first Champions League game, at home to Olympique
Lyonnais on Tuesday 17 September, the Eredivisie home game
against FC Zwolle will be re-scheduled from Sunday 15 September
to the night before: Saturday 14 September.
After the draw, Ajax coach Ronald Koeman said that he
regards this group as a "very stiff job". But: "I see chances
to reach the next round. Inter is a great name, but their name
has been greater than their achievements in recent years.
Norwegian teams are tough to play against. And French football
is quite strong, these days. Lyon may be more of favourite to
win this group than Inter."
Ajax captain Cristian Chivu is satisfied with the draw:
"It's a good draw for us. Everything's possible; everything's
open. But it could have been much worse. We could have met Real
Madrid, Bayern Munich or Deportivo. We have a good chance to
survive this one (...) I look forward to it."
Goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg will probably make his
international debut for Ajax in the first game against Lyon.
His comments: "We shouldn't complain. I'm glad we did not end
up in group C (the one with Real Madrid and AS Roma, ed.). I
did not really have preferences. (...) I am looking forward to
it. These will be my first games in European competition and
I'm sure it will be a fantastic experience. But I don't want to
get carried away. First, we got to beat Groningen on
Sunday."
OPPONENT PROFILES
INTERNAZIONALE FC
In the northern Italian metropole of Milan, AC Milan is the
people's club. The heroes of - traditionally - the city's
aristocracy, are the Nerazzurri, the 'black and blue'. A
legend, an institute of football: Internazionale FC, often
referred to as Inter Milan, or simply Inter, of 1908. Winners
of 13 Italian Serie A championships, three Italian cups, two
Europan Champions Cups (1964 and 1965), a World Cup (1965),
three UEFA Cups (1991, 1994 and 1998), and nowadays playing
with one of the world's most feared striker couples: Christian
Vieri and Hernan Crespo. The latter was signed by Inter after
Ronaldo's much-discussed departure to Real Madrid. Ajax will
meet them on the holy ground of the impressive venue Inter
shares with its local rivals, AC Milan. AC fans call the
stadium San Siro, only because it is officially named after a
superstar from Inter's great past: Giuseppe Meazza.
Played no less than six European Cup finals against Italian
sides: two against AC Milan (1969, 1995), two against Juventus
(1973, 1996), one against AC Torino (1992) and - last but not
least - one against Inter, on 31 May 1972 in Rotterdam. Ajax
won, by two Johan Cruijff goals (2-0). It was, quite
remarkably, the only official European game Ajax and Inter
played each other. The second, but unofficial edition of Ajax
vs Inter followed twenty years later, in a pre-season friendly
in Catanzaro, Italy. Result: 2-2, after which Inter won the
penalty shoot-out, 3-5. In European competitions, Ajax faced
Italian opponents no less than fifteen times. Nine times, Ajax
won on aggregate. The second official confrontation between
Ajax and Inter comes exactly 30 years after the final of
1972.
Three (former) Ajax stars played for Inter during the 1990s.
The Nerazzurri signed Ajax succesful couple Dennis
Bergkamp and Wim Jonk in 1993, but the two joined Inter in a
particularly gray era and did not reach their Ajax level in
Milan. More succesful were Aron Winter's three seasons in
Giuseppe Meazza Stadium. The Amsterdammer joined Inter in 1996,
after four years at Lazio Roma. He played 76 games for Inter,
in which he scored one goal.
Aron Winter still has many friends at Inter. "I'll be making
many phonecalls tonight", the Ajax veteran said. "I've seen
them play a few times last season. The coach made a true team
out of the squad. He solved their defensive problems by buying
Cannavaro. Hieri and Ronaldo are no bad players either. But if
you look at some of the other groups, there's no reason to
complain."
The upcoming Ajax vs Inter confrontations are special for
one more Ajacied: team manager David Endt, who loves Inter
almost as much as he loves Ajax. He can write and speak
lyrically about the beauty of both clubs. He'll be counting the
days.
OLYMPIQUE LYONNAIS
French football landscape tends to change drastically once
every few years. There is no Ajax in France, no Bayern Munich,
Real Madrid or Liverpool. The country's best-known teams from
the 1990s, Olympique Marseille and Paris St. Germain have
disappeared from the spotlights. Nantes, Lens and Olympique
Lyonnais, als referred to as Olympique Lyon, are the new giants
on the block. 'L'OL', as the club's name is abbreviated by its
fans, won its first ever French league title last season. The
trophy was added to the three French cups (1964, 1967 and 1973)
that were already in the trophy cabinet. The team has become
one of Freance's regular representatives in the Champions
League.
The side's current superstars include striker Sonny
Andersons, who came from Barcelona in 1999, and Juninho.
Olympique plays its home games in all white, with a red and
blue vertical stripe over the chest. Lyon's Stade de Gerland
has a capacity of 42,000.
In response to the upcoming matches with Ajax, Olympique
Lyonnais coach and former France and PSG player Paul le Guen,
states:
"Ajax gets better and better each year. It is filled with
great players, really a good squad. Ajax comes back to
Champion's League (with) a really competitive team. I was lucky
enough to see them play two or three years ago, and it's true
that they were really in the pits, but now I have the
impression that they're back at national and also top European
level."
And Lyon's Eric Carriere, also a French international
player, had this response to Group D:
"Anyway we had to get a draw... Good or not, I don't know.
We'll see after the matches. Inter Milan is an Italian team,
and those teams aren't known to be spectacular, so it will
probably be conservative play. Ajax is a team who hasn't
provided good European results for a long time, but with an
offensive spirit, so they will produce good open football. And
last, Rosenborg is a team which hasn't missed the Champions
League for years now, so be careful, even if it is supposed to
be the weakest of the pool. (Theirs) is a more athletic way of
playing, Norwegian football, which gets better and better and
gets better results each time, so we'll have to be careful.
"All the draws are hard, but I think that the essential
(thing) was to avoid Milan or Newcastle. Instead, we got Ajax.
But don't waste time in forecasting. The future will tell us if
it is a good or a bad draw."
Ajax and Olympique Lyonnais played each other only once, in
a friendly game in the town of Dijon on 05 April 1977, which
ended in a 2-2 draw. It is the sixth time in total for Ajax to
bump into French opposition in a UEFA competition. On two
occasions, in 1971 and in 1988, the 'other' Olympique (from
Marseille) was the opponent. Ajax advanced both times. RC
Strasbourg was no problem either, in the Champions Cup of
1979-1980. After a 0-0 draw in France, the French were
demolished by 4-0 in Amsterdam. More trouble caused AJ Auxerre,
which club Ajax met in 1992-1993. The away game was lost 4-2,
after which a 1-0 home win was not enough. Four years later, in
the group stage of the Champions League, Ajax won in Auxerre
(0-1), but lost in Amsterdam (1-2). Both Ajax and AJ Auxerre
advanced, with twelve points each.
ROSENBORG BK
Almost certainly, the entire Ajax selection looked in
André Bergdølmo's direction as the Rosenborg
Ballklub, of 1917, was placed in group D. The amicable
Norwegian is to travel back to the city of Trondheim, back to
Lerkendal Stadium (capacity: 23,585), where he wore the white
and black of Norway's number one side for four seasons. In
total, Bergdølmo played 83 games for Rosenborg BK, in
which he scored two goals. The club won 15 Norwegian league
titles and, although Norway is a modest football country, built
a reputation of a 'giant killer' and participated in
every Champions League edition since 1995. This year's
edition was reached by eliminating Danish champions
Brøndby in the preliminary stages.
André Bergdølmo is the only link between Ajax
and Rosenborg. The two sides never played each other. Ajax did
bump into Norwegian opposition in European competitions on two
occasions since the start of European Cup football in 1957. In
the 1960-1961 season, Frederikstad BK eliminated Ajax in the
first round, winning 4-3 in Norway and keeping it down to 0-0
in Amsterdam. The second and last time Ajax played a Norwegian
team in an official game (friendly's not included) was in the
1977-1978 season. Lillestrøm SK, the club where
André Bergdølmo played for six seasons before
joining Rosenborg, was the opponent. After a rather
embarrassing 2-0 defeat in the first leg, Ajax brushed the
Norwegians aside in Amsterdam, 4-0.
Bergdølmo's comment after the draw: "This is
beautiful. I hoped for Rosenborg, because I know them so well.
They're particularly dangerous in Trondheim."
Schedule for Ajax during group
stage:
- Matchday 1: 17 Sep - Ajax v Olympique Lyonnais
- Matchday 2: 25 Sep - Internazionale FC v Ajax
- Matchday 3: 02 Oct - Rosenborg BK v Ajax
- Matchday 4: 22 Oct - Ajax Rosenborg BK
- Matchday 5: 30 Oct - Olympique Lyonnais v Ajax
- Matchday 6: 12 Nov - Ajax v Internazionale FC
All groups, 2002-2003 Champions
League:
|
|
|
Group A
- PSV
- AJ Auxerre
- Arsenal FC
- Borussia Dortmund
Group B
- Liverpool FC
- Spartak Moscow
- Valencia CF
- FC Basel
Group C
- Real Madrid
- AEK Athens
- AS Roma
- RC Genk
Group D
- Olympique Lyonnais
- Internazionale FC
- Ajax
- Rosenborg BK
|
Group E
- Juventus
- Dynamo Kiev
- Feyenoord
- Newcastle United
Group F
- Olympiakos Piraeus
- Bayer 04 Leverkusen
- Manchester United
- Maccabi Haifa
Group G
- Bayern Munich
- AC Milan
- RC Lens
- Deportivo La Coruna
Group H
- Club Brugge
- Galatasaray
- FC Barcelona
- Lokomotiv Moscow
|
(Source: UEFA.com, ajax.nl,
olympiquelyonnais.com)
Related links
