Flashes from Belgian talents Rayane Bounida and Mika Godts briefly provided hope for Ajax’s first Champions League result this season. But in a full Johan Cruijff Arena, Benfica proved to be more refined and effective. The Portuguese won 0-2. Fred Grim also loses his third game as Ajax coach, and the Amsterdam team is now almost certainly eliminated from the Champions League.
Grim, himself a former goalkeeper, opted for Vítezslav Jaros on goal again against Benfica instead of Remko Pasveer, who was far from convincing against Excelsior last weekend. In addition to Jaros, Grim awarded the young talent Bounida his first starting spot. Davy Klaassen started as an attacking midfielder, at the expense of the Israeli million-dollar purchase Oscar Gloukh. Grim also chose the Japanese Ko Itakura as a controlling midfielder, the position where Ajax tried so many players after the departure of Jordan Henderson. Itakura had a tough time at times in the first half, but could look back on a solid match.
Benfica, which was scoreless at the bottom of the Champions League together with Ajax on Tuesday evening before kick-off, started the match fiercely. While Ajax goalkeeper Jaros was initially able to prevent a Portuguese opening goal from a corner, he had no chance when Samuel Dahl’s shot from the rebound. He hammered the ball into the intersection. As so often this season, things went wrong for Ajax in a standard situation. Even after the goal, Benfica remained threatening, including through former AZ striker Vangelis Pavlidis, who shot hard into the side netting.
Fad Bounida
In offensive terms, Ajax only countered Bounida’s whim in the first half hour. The creative man passed two defenders, but saw his shot go wide via a Portuguese leg. In the 33rd minute it was Bounida again who served the deep Klaassen with a through ball. The midfielder bumped into the Benfica goalkeeper, after which striker Wout Weghorst needed too much time. Ajax continued to push until halftime, especially through the actions of wing attackers Mika Godts and Bounida, but an equalizer was not achieved.
Bounida was dangerous again in the second half, but it was Klaassen who should have scored the equalizer. After a smooth attack, the midfielder was released in front of the keeper, but his shot was weak. Still, the outburst must have given confidence to the Amsterdam crowd, which hoped to end a tough period against Benfica, with losses against Excelsior (1-2) and FC Utrecht (1-2). Because of these defeats, Grim has had a very bad start as interim coach, a role he will fulfill at least until the winter break.
Things have been going on behind the scenes at Ajax for some time. The management must look for replacements for Alex Kroes and Danny Blind. Kroes linked his future as technical director to that of John Heitinga, who was dismissed as head coach at the beginning of November. Kroes’ contract expires at the end of the season, but he may leave sooner if his replacement is appointed before then. Blind is responsible for the technical football policy within the supervisory board and disagrees with the course of the Ajax management on several points.
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Jordi Cruyff
Various media reported this week that the club management is in discussions with Jordi Cruijff as the new technical director. The 51-year-old son of the late Johan Cruijff is currently an advisor to the Indonesian Football Association. He previously worked at FC Barcelona, Israel’s Maccabi Tel Aviv and Cypriot AEK Lacarna. In addition to Cruijff, a number of foreign candidates are said to be in the picture. The intention is for the new technical director to arrive before the winter break, so that he can appoint a replacement for Grim.
The sixty-year-old former goalkeeper of the Amsterdam team hoped to force an offensive in the last fifteen minutes of the match. Grim brought the Danish attacker Kasper Dolberg, Gloukh and Kian Fitz-Jim, while Benfica was mainly busy stalling for time. The Portuguese are also working on a very difficult Champions League campaign, but were able to gain confidence in advance from the statistic that coach José Mourinho won each of his previous seven matches against Ajax.
Thanks to Leandro Barreiro’s 0-2, Mourinho was able to maintain his reputation as an Ajax troublemaker. The victory is the first result for Benfica in the billion-dollar ball, while Ajax remains last without points.
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