It is uncertain whether trainer Alfred Schreuder can start tomorrow evening against Rangers FC with Brian Brobbey in the striker. At the training tonight in Glasgow, it should be clear whether Brobbey is fit enough for Ajax’s last group match in the Champions League.
“Brian has minor complaints,” Schreuder told the press conference at Ibrox Stadium. “We will see how he is doing in training. If it goes well, he could start.” Schreuder has brought 23 players to Scotland. That is the same selection as last week against Liverpool plus Ahmetcan Kaplan. The Turkish defender is recovering from a knee injury and is partly training, but is not yet ready to sit on the bench.
Unlike Rangers FC, Ajax had a free weekend. The Scots had a rough general and played 1-1 in their own competition against low-flyer Livingston, who played a large part of the game with ten men after an early red card.
Extra training day
Despite the fact that Ajax has already been eliminated for the knockout phase of the Champions League, Schreuder is not sad that the match against Vitesse has been removed from the program. “We have been able to train well. That extra training day is nice. We have been able to work on a number of things that we need to improve.”
Schreuder assumes that Ajax will retain third place in the group and therefore continue in the Europa League. Since the mutual result is decisive, Rangers FC should win by four goals to knock Ajax all the way out of Europe. Schreuder: “We have to focus on team performance tomorrow. You want to win every game and you can close the Champions League because we have reached the Europa League. If you look at the Champions League, the other opponents were of such size that they were too big were for us.”
Ihattaren gone
Schreuder also responded briefly to the departure of Mohamed Ihattaren from Ajax. That news came out just before the press conference in Scotland. “It is a pity how it turned out. I last spoke with him about seven or eight weeks ago. I do not see it as a personal defeat. Everything has been done within Ajax. This was decided by Ajax and what I find, I keep to myself.”