25 FEB 2021; Ajax - Lille; Europa League Round of 32

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Orange14
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25 FEB 2021; Ajax - Lille; Europa League Round of 32

Bericht door Orange14 » di feb 23, 2021 2:56 pm

Ajax host Lille this Thursday. A clean sheet sends Ajax through to the next round so the defense needs to be alert to any change in tactics from Lille.
Appie Nouri will forever be remembered for his grace and humanity on and off the pitch!

Ayman
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Re: 25 FEB 2021; Ajax - Lille; Europa League Round of 32

Bericht door Ayman » di feb 23, 2021 4:22 pm

Even though Ajax has a good record against French sides. I wouldn't underestimate this. Coefficient points are at stake, Belgian side Club Brugge are firm favourites against Kiev.

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Amol
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Re: 25 FEB 2021; Ajax - Lille; Europa League Round of 32

Bericht door Amol » wo feb 24, 2021 4:33 am

We just need to play out for the win to get the co-efficient points. 2 points for a win.

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Re: 25 FEB 2021; Ajax - Lille; Europa League Round of 32

Bericht door Tom_ » wo feb 24, 2021 9:08 am

I’m always nervous when the second leg is at home. But Lille didn’t look that good to me in the first leg.

Ayman
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Re: 25 FEB 2021; Ajax - Lille; Europa League Round of 32

Bericht door Ayman » wo feb 24, 2021 2:25 pm

Tagliafico and Mazraoui are injured, so Blind and Rensch will deputise for them. I like the strength in depth of our squad now

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Re: 25 FEB 2021; Ajax - Lille; Europa League Round of 32

Bericht door Amol » wo feb 24, 2021 7:24 pm

We need to keep it tight just like last week and prevent counters. Blind will struggle with pace at LB, so hopefully Martinez and Gravenberch can help cover on that side.

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Re: 25 FEB 2021; Ajax - Lille; Europa League Round of 32

Bericht door Orange14 » wo feb 24, 2021 9:23 pm

Amol schreef:
wo feb 24, 2021 7:24 pm
We need to keep it tight just like last week and prevent counters. Blind will struggle with pace at LB, so hopefully Martinez and Gravenberch can help cover on that side.
I suspect that they will drop Alvarez back into more of a back three on defense which will still allow Blind room to roam but still protect things. ETH usually gets the tactics correct.
Appie Nouri will forever be remembered for his grace and humanity on and off the pitch!

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Re: 25 FEB 2021; Ajax - Lille; Europa League Round of 32

Bericht door Amol » do feb 25, 2021 5:38 pm

Starting 11 for today -
Stekelenburg, Rensch, Timber, Martínez, Blind, Álvarez, Klaassen, Gravenberch, Antony, Tadic, Neres

I expected this line-up and am expecting a tight game and either a draw or a small win for us.

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Re: 25 FEB 2021; Ajax - Lille; Europa League Round of 32

Bericht door SPL » do feb 25, 2021 6:54 pm

A draw would ok but they did not look that good last week so lets just beat them

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Re: 25 FEB 2021; Ajax - Lille; Europa League Round of 32

Bericht door Orange14 » do feb 25, 2021 7:46 pm

I missed most of the first half as my voice lesson is on Thursday. Good to see a 1-0 scoreline. I'll catch up on the replay to see the goal.
Appie Nouri will forever be remembered for his grace and humanity on and off the pitch!

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Re: 25 FEB 2021; Ajax - Lille; Europa League Round of 32

Bericht door Tom_ » do feb 25, 2021 7:48 pm

Quite a few worrying moments where Lille players were able to break into the box. We scored off our only shot I think.

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Re: 25 FEB 2021; Ajax - Lille; Europa League Round of 32

Bericht door kezme44 » do feb 25, 2021 7:48 pm

good first half for us. lille will come on hard in the second half. need to prevent a Tottenham scenario

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Re: 25 FEB 2021; Ajax - Lille; Europa League Round of 32

Bericht door SPL » do feb 25, 2021 7:51 pm

A quick 2nd will put this game to bed although I dont see Lille doing a Spurs.

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Re: 25 FEB 2021; Ajax - Lille; Europa League Round of 32

Bericht door Orange14 » do feb 25, 2021 8:33 pm

What was Martinez thinking? That's a penalty all day long.
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Re: 25 FEB 2021; Ajax - Lille; Europa League Round of 32

Bericht door kezme44 » do feb 25, 2021 8:37 pm

gotta keep the ball! in panic mode now

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Re: 25 FEB 2021; Ajax - Lille; Europa League Round of 32

Bericht door kezme44 » do feb 25, 2021 8:44 pm

2-1! neres who missed a few opportunities scored and that should be it

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Re: 25 FEB 2021; Ajax - Lille; Europa League Round of 32

Bericht door SPL » do feb 25, 2021 8:57 pm

Stupid pen by Martinez.Why was play not stopped straight away as it looked a clear pen.

Lucky they did not know how to shot properly as they did get forward alot but all their efforts were harmless for Steks. Lille again look a very moderate side ,the French league must be weak if they are top.

11 wins on the trot so lets make it 12 on Sunday and stuff PSV

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Re: 25 FEB 2021; Ajax - Lille; Europa League Round of 32

Bericht door Orange14 » do feb 25, 2021 8:58 pm

Dicey 2nd half but the fine goal by Neres locked it up. I need to watch the first half before doing ratings.
Appie Nouri will forever be remembered for his grace and humanity on and off the pitch!

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Re: 25 FEB 2021; Ajax - Lille; Europa League Round of 32

Bericht door Cruijff » vr feb 26, 2021 12:38 am

And now of course we look forward to the player ratings!! :headbang.gif: :headbang.gif:

kezme44 schreef:
do feb 25, 2021 8:44 pm
2-1! neres who missed a few opportunities scored and that should be it
According to his reaction, Neres was very, VERY happy with his goal. :smile-ajax.gif:
I think the match winner was just what he needed.

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Re: 25 FEB 2021; Ajax - Lille; Europa League Round of 32

Bericht door SPL » vr feb 26, 2021 1:23 am

Good for Dutch co effiecients we are certain of finishing in the top 10 and thus 2022 champs will qualify for groups stages.( 2021 already qualified )

Russia still 7th but one more win by Ajax will put Netherlands 7th,just a shame PSV did not hold on and get through as they could have picked up more points.

Russia, Belgium 9th and Austria 10th have no teams left.

We can hope for an easy draw but Manu or Spurs will draw us.

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Re: 25 FEB 2021; Ajax - Lille; Europa League Round of 32

Bericht door Orange14 » vr feb 26, 2021 2:49 am

I just finished watching the replay as I missed the first half and wanted to see the 2nd half again. Ajax were exposed on more occasions that I would like but everyone stepped up to cut off passing and shooting lanes. Steks only had routine saves to make. Martinez was disappointing on three occasions when he lost position and Lille threatened. The penalty bundling over was just stupid as Alvarez was coming on strong. Maybe they get a goal on the shot, who knows. Klaassen is such a maddening player as he is so good moving without the ball but has such terrible touch. Nonetheless, he has to be the MOTM with the first goal and the terrific tackle to get the ball back leading to the second goal. He was all over the pitch helping out on defense. Timber also stood out for me with his quickness and position. Sure wish he was several cm taller. ETH got the tactics right by sliding Blind out side and dropping either Gravenberch or Alvarez back to make it a back three.

On to the draw tomorrow with some very average teams as well as a couple of top notch ones. Ajax are seldom lucky in these draws and we'll see what happens.

Player Ratings:

Stekelenburg (6.5) - only some routine saves and a lot of kicking on the night
Blind (7) - decent enough tonight but his lack of quickness defending is a liability
Martinez (6) - his defending most of the night was quite good but on three occasions it was horrible
Timber (7.5) - just so quick and smooth with the ball
Rensch (7) - did you see the two good inside runs he had in the first half, a better touch and he could have scored
Alvarez (7.5 ) - close second to Klaassen for MOTM; he won every duel he was in and his passing was conservative and on target
Gravenberch (6.5) - quite match but was in control when he had the ball
Klaasen (7.5) - half point off for some poor touches but excellent on the night
Neres (7) - worked hard all night and kept running to the goal when Tadic crossed to Brobby
Tadic (7.5) - solid game with great ball control and a great pass to Brobby on the second goal
Antony (6.5) - worked hard as usual but didn't pose much of a threat as he was facing a double team most of the time down low
Brobby (6.5) - great play with the ball and worked hard to get position
Idrissi (NR) - good thing he didn't come on before Neres scored! :blub.gif:
Kudus (NR) - on late
Appie Nouri will forever be remembered for his grace and humanity on and off the pitch!

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Re: 25 FEB 2021; Ajax - Lille; Europa League Round of 32

Bericht door Amol » vr feb 26, 2021 5:02 pm

Much better showing by Lille yesterday than from a week ago. It was pretty tight yesterday and Lille's midfield 4 did a much better job of blocking passing lanes compared to last week.

Steks actually made a great save yesterday on a full sprawl and took the ball off of the Lille forward's foot. I'm so happy that we have him - else we were going to be in big trouble without Onana.

Martinez's push on the Lille forward was so unnecessary - Alvarez was just to his left and could've easily covered.

Both Neres and Antony seemed to struggle yesterday.

Timber and Rensch continue to impress me and played amazing yesterday.

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