Ajax up against Dinamo Tbilisi or Brondby in CL qualifier
29 July: Ajax are up against the winner of the second round
confrontation between Dinamo Tbilisi (Georgia) and
Brøndby IF (Denmark) in the third preliminary round of
the Champions League. That was the outcome of the draw at the
UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, today. The second leg
between the two teams will be played on Wednesday 03 August,
but it seems like the Amsterdammers can already book their
flights to Copenhagen: Brøndby won the
first leg in Georgia by the score of 0-2.
Ajax remained in the bowl for a long time in Nyon, until
only three possible opponents were left: Real Betis
Balompié (Spain), Wisla Krakow (Poland) and Dinamo
Tbilisi/Brøndby IF. The Amsterdammers will travel to
either Georgia or Denmark first, on Tuesday 09 or Wednesday 10
August. The return leg at the Amsterdam ArenA will be played on
Tuesday 23 or Wednesday 24 August.
Ajax never played a game against either of the two teams in
UEFA competition or a friendly. The Amsterdammers never played
a team from Georgia in UEFA competition, not even in the days
when the republic was still part of the Soviet Union. The only
time Ajax faced Danish opposition in UEFA competition, it ended
in tears for the Amsterdammers. FC Købnhavn
(FC Copenhagen) eliminated the red and white in the
second round of the UEFA Cup. After a 0-0 draw at Copenhagen's
Parken on 18 October 2001 Ajax lost
at the Amsterdam ArenA on 01 November: 0-1.
Ajax.nl published the first reaction of Ajax boss Danny
Blind a couple of hours after the draw. Blind acknowledged the
fact that the opponent might in theory be Dinamo Tbilisi ("we
will follow them, too, just in case they pull off a
stunt"), but almost exclusively reflected on Brøndby IF
and the fact that he will meet his former Ajax team-mate
Michael Laudrup again. Blind and Laudrup played for Ajax in
1997-1998. "I know Michael as a very nice person and a
superb footballer. It will be very nice to meet him
again," Blind said.
The Ajax head-coach feels that Brøndby are "not
an easy opponent", but that Ajax "mustn't complain": "I am not
saying we're extremely happy with this draw, or that we
should beat them no matter what, but it could have been worse.
Denmark is easy to get to. Which is nice, because we want to go
there and see them play. The facilities are excellent and it's
also a good thing that we play away first. (...) Brøndby
play in a sort of 4-3-3 formation, albeit with wingers coming
from midfield. It's a side that wants to play football, which
is good for us. We're going for qualification and won't settle
for less."
Ajax USA will publish a comprehensive profile of Ajax's
opponent on 04 August, after the second leg between Dinamo
Tbilisi and Brøndby IF has been played. Until then
you might want to read the information available on the
respective English language versions of the official websites
of Brøndby
IF and Dinamo Tbilisi. (MP)
Source: UEFA.com, Ajax.nl
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