Heitinga had Ajax put high pressure against a team that beat Paris Saint-Germain eight days ago (1-0). Olympique Marseille was therefore given so much space that it could counter dangerous. Ajax was more in possession of the ball and got six corner kicks more than the home team. But Ajax was already 3-0 after 26 minutes.
Will the Bijtjesdag for Heitinga after further unmask Ajax in Marseille?
“We start well, but after five minutes we are behind,” said Heitinga, who saw Youri Regeer and Owen Wijndal fall injured. “Then they benefit twice from our mistakes. They punished every mistake of us. They are a size too big for us. We would like to go to the level of the Champions League but are a team under construction. This was a hard lesson in effectiveness. We have to collect this and quickly continue my players. They have continued to fight.”
Marco van Basten and Wesley Sneijder
Analysts Marco van Basten and Wesley Sneijder were not charmed by the explanation. In the break they already expressed considerable criticism of the game conception. “All those couples. I am killed by that. That is not possible at this level. A few passes and they are through it,” Sneijder quoted.