Ajax face AC Milan, Celta de Vigo and Club Bruges
28 August: Ajax's Champions League campaign of the
2003-2004 season will start where last season's run was
painfully terminated in stoppage time: in Milan's San Siro
stadium, against the city's Rossoneri, AC
Milan. The game, Ajax's first in Group H, is
scheduled for Tuesday 16 September. The other opponents
are Celta de Vigo from Spain and - the only actual champions in
the group - Club Brugge from Bruges, Belgium.
This was determined during the draw for the group stage
(first round) of the 2003-2004 Champions League, which took
place at Monaco's Grimaldi Forum today. Kick-off time for all
fixtures in Group H is 20:45 CET.
- Matchday 1, Tue 16 Sep: AC Milan -
Ajax
- Matchday 2, Wed 01 Oct:
Ajax - Club Brugge
- Matchday 3, Wed 22 Oct: Ajax - Celta de
Vigo
- Matchday 4, Tue 04 Nov: Celta de Vigo -
Ajax
- Matchday 5, Wed 26 Nov: Ajax - AC
Milan
- Matchday 6, Tue 09 Dec: Club Brugge -
Ajax
REACTIONS FROM THE AMSTERDAM ARENA
Head-coach Ronald Koeman on AC Milan:
"Tough, but interesting (...) I would rather have seen a
different opponent than AC Milan, as we already played them
last season. But we do have some business to settle in
Milan. AC Milan, to me, is the big favourite in this
group. I think we will find ourseoves fighting for the second
slot. It's an advantage that the four teams are equally strong.
Everyone will lose points in this group, but this also gives
you the chance to stay in the race."
Koeman on Celta de Vigo: "It's always very
attractive to play Spanish opposition. If a team manages to
qualify for the Champions League in a high-quality, very
stabile league such as the Spanish, you know automatically that
it's a very strong team indeed."
Koeman on Club Brugge: "A well-organized
side. A physical side. A strong side. Definitely an opponent to
take seriously."
Ajax deputy captain Rafaël van der
Vaart: "Last season we lost in Milan. Now we will get
the chance to take revenge. AC Milan is obviously the best
opponent in this group, but I kind of like the fact that we'll
play them again. I missed last season's game, so there's
definitely something to make up for for me personally. I am
very happy with it. You hope for a really great opponent - and
AC Milan is one, of course, being last season's winner (...)
The opponents in our group will not underestimate us anymore.
On the other hand: we also learned not to underestimate
anyone."
Ajax captain Jari Litmanen: "I do not have
any feelings of revenge toward AC Milan. They won the final,
which is of course a major achievement. We played two good
games against them last season. You don't have to tell us
anything about them. (...) However, it is tricky to
play against Italians. You tend to think you're in control of
the game and you can play well against them. But they score
against you when you don't expect it."
Litmanen: "The games against Club Brugge
will be like a Holland versus Belgium confrontation. And in
that type of game you never know what will happen. Most people
always think the Dutch will win such a confrontation easily,
but we've seen last week [during the Belgium vs Holland
friendly, which ended 1-1, ed.] how difficult it can be. (...)
Last season we lost three games, but we also won three games.
And we drew against big and not-so-big opponents.
Apparently, we don't win easily, but we don't lose easily
either."
THE OPPONENTS
AC Milan
Isn't it ironic? Ajax's first Champions League
fixture of the new season will be played at San
Siro, against AC Milan. Do the Rossoneri even
require an introduction? For the record: the club is
the last most recent winner of the Champions
League and the club to come closest to Real Madrid's unrivalled
status as the greatest club in European football
history. The defending European champion is the only team
in Group H to have qualified directly. Ajax, Club Brugge and
Celta de Vigo entered the competition via the third preliminary
round.
No other club in Europe played Ajax as frequently in UEFA
competition as AC Milan. Enough reason for Ajax USA to publish
a special feature on Italy's most prominent football
institute, named 'The AC
Milan Files', as Ajax and AC Milan bumped into each other
in last year's Champions League quarter final. That was in
April of this year and every Ajax fan will remember the bitter
outcome. Almost everything, including the squad, remained the
same at AC Milan this summer. Therefore: for everything you
ever wanted to know about AC Milan (and probably more): please
jump to a fully revised and updated version of Ajax
USA's 'AC
Milan Files'.
Club Brugge KV
Ajax's second opponent in Group H is a side that
Jelle Van Damme, Wesley Sonck and Tom Soetaers are very
familiar with, namely reigning Belgian champions Club Brugge
KV, from the picturesque Flemish city of Bruges. Ajax's
Belgians already warned their team-mates: 'Club' is a very
tough opponent to play against. Hard to beat, smart and
physically strong. A bit like Grazer AK, according to Tom
Soetaers, but of considerably higher quality.
Ajax faced Belgian opposition four times in UEFA
competition. Royal Antwerp FC was eliminated in the second
round of the UEFA Cup in 1974. AA Ghent was brushed aside
twice in the UEFA Cup: in the quarter final in 1992
and in the first round in 2000. However, the most
prestigious confrontation with a Belgian side was painfully
lost: the European Cup
Winners Cup final of May 1988, against KV Mechelen (1-0).
Quite remarkably Ajax never met Belgium's two
major football forces - RSC Anderlecht and Club Brugge
- in UEFA competition. Ajax and Club Brugge did meet
in nine friendlies over the years, with very different
results: there were two draws of 2-2 in one month's
time (1970), a 1-4 win to Ajax (1974), a 3-0 win to
Club Brugge (1975), a 3-1 to Club Brugge (1981),
a 0-0 draw (1990), a 3-3 draw (1994) and, finally, a
1-4 win to Ajax in August 1997.
The international honours list of RSC Anderlecht may be
longer, but Ajax's Group H opponent Club Brugge KV is the only
Belgian side to have ever played a European Champions Cup
final. This was in 1978, at London's Wembley Stadium
against Liverpool FC. The English won by 1-0, two years
after the same teams had met in the two-legged UEFA Cup final.
Then, too, Liverpool was stronger (4-3 on
aggregate). Founded in 1891 Club Brugge won the
Belgian championship 12 times. The trophy cabinet also contains
8 Belgian cups and 11 Belgian Super Cups.
On 09 December Ajax will visit Jan Breydel Stadium, which
holds 30,000 spectators and was one of the featured stadiums
during Euro 2000 in Belgium and The Netherlands. The current
roster includes players such as Slovenian defender Marek
Spilar, Romanian star midfielder Alin Stoica and tall Belgian
goalgetter Gert Verheyen.
While Ajax struggled against Austria's Grazer AK Club Brugge
reached the group stage of the Champions League in a far more
glorious way: by
eliminating German giants Borussia Dortmund on penalties,
after having
won the home leg by 2-1 and lost the return leg by the
same score. Brugge's hero on the occasion was goalkeeper
Tomislav Butina, who stopped two Dortmund attempts, including
that of former Ajax defender André Bergdølmo.
Unfortunately Club Brugge's official website does
not have an English version and you will find that most links
to English language Club Brugge pages on the internet do no
longer work.
Celta de Vigo
It's the 11th time for Ajax to face Spanish
opposition in UEFA competition. Ajax faced Real
Madrid three times, Real Zaragoza and Atlético
Madrid twice and CA Osasuna, Athletic Bilbao, Real
Mallorca and - last season - Valencia CF once. The name of
the opponent, however, was never 'Real Club Celta de Vigo' -
not even in a friendly. The most recent official contact
between Ajax and Celta was in March of this year, when Ajax's
Egyptian enfant terrible, Mido, was loaned out to
the Spanish side for the remainder of the 2002-2003
season.
Celta plays its home games at Vigo's beautiful Balaidos
Stadium, which has a capacity of 31,800. The club, founded in
1923, has made impressive progress in recent seasons, to
become one of Spain's 'best of the rest'. However, Celta will
probably always be overshadowed by Spain's giants: Real
Madrid, FC Barcelona, Valencia CF and - more recently
- Deportivo La Coruña. Celta never won the
Spanish championship and equalled its best ever ranking in the
Priméra División of La Liga of 1948 last
season: a fourth slot.
Like Ajax, Celta de Vigo made it to the group via the third
qualifying round, in which Slavia Prague was brushed aside.
Three of Celta's current key players, Russian 'number
ten' Alexandr Mostovoi, Jesuli and Brazilian superstar Edu
scored for the Spanish making for a
3-0 home win. Nevertheless, it got unexpectedly tight in
Prague, where the Czechs won by 2-0.
It is hard to find good Celta reading in English on the
internet: Celta's official website does not
have an English language version and there are no up-to-date
fansites in English either. (MP)
Related links
