“There are no easy games. We have to be at our best,” Farioli said during the press conference. “We are supported by 2,000 fans who traveled with us and we will do everything we can to make them happy.”
The coach also realized that Riga has not played any official matches since the last Europa League round in mid-December, but did not dare to say whether that was an advantage or a disadvantage. “It could mean that they lack rhythm or that they are very fresh. It is now difficult to estimate how they will play. Probably with two strikers and that is always difficult,” the coach said.
After six matches, Ajax occupies eleventh place in the Europa League rankings. The first eight teams qualify directly for the knockout phase. Numbers 9 to 24 advance to the play-offs. “Ideally we skip that intermediate round, but the most important thing is that we continue,” said Farioli.
Ajax cannot call on the suspended Jorrel Hato in Latvia, Davy Klaassen is not eligible to play and Devyne Rensch is not in the selection due to his expected transfer to AS Roma. The Amsterdam team will close the group stage next week with a home match against Galatasaray from Turkey.