Champions League: Ajax up against Slavia or Zilina in qualifier
03 August: The Amsterdam Tournament? Nice little tourney,
but the most important event of this year's edition was the
draw for the third preliminary round of the Champions League,
which took place at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland,
this afternoon. The outcome: Ajax face either SK Slavia
Praha (Czech Republic) or MSK Zilina (Slovakia), who settled
for
a 0-0 draw in the first leg of their second round clash.
The return leg is this upcoming Wednesday.
No matter who will advance: the first leg will be played at
the Amsterdam ArenA on either Tuesday 14 or Wednesday 15
August. The second leg is two weeks later, on either Tuesday 28
or Wednesday 29 August.
In Nyon, Ajax were the fifth team to come out of
the bowl of seeded teams. They were going to be paired with an
unseeded side, but in the bowl of unseeded teams were names
such as Spartak Moscow, AEK Athens, Sparta Prague and SK
Fenerbahçe. It was, therefore, a draw result
Ajax can be satisfied with, admitted head-coach Henk ten
Cate: "It could have been worse. I'll have to admit that I
know absolutely nothing about these two teams. The level of
football is pretty good in these countries,
especially in the Czech Republic. But I definitely see chances
for us to advance to the Champions League."
Slavia Prague or MSK Zilina. Whoever it will be, it will be
a first for the Amsterdammers. Ajax played a number of teams
from the Czech capital of Prague in the past (Sparta, Dukla
and Bohemians), but never Slavia. They
never met MSK Zilina, either.
After the return leg between Slavia and Zilina, on Wednesday
08 August, Ajax USA will publish another news report, which
will include the exact dates and kick-off times, plus a
profile of Ajax's opponent. (MP)
Sources: UEFA.com, Ajax.nl
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