Martins Indi still has enough to fight for with AZ

Bruno Martins Indi does not know which he found more painful, the defeat of AZ against Ajax earlier this month in the semi-final of the KNVB Cup or elimination by Bodø/Glimt in the eighth finals of the Conference League. “We were only one step away from the cup final against Ajax,” he said. “But further European conversion would have been very nice.”

Martins Indi was defeated in the press room of AZ late on Thursday evening, after the draw after extra time against the champions of Norway (2-2). That was not only because the result after last week’s 2-1 defeat was insufficient for a place in the quarterfinals. He was also dissatisfied with his game in the return.

The second duel with Bodø/Glimt, a club with a budget of around 10 million euros, could not have started better for Martins Indi. The 30-year-old defender sent Vangelis Pavlidis off the left flank and saw the Greek score. After the 1-1, the 34-time international of the Dutch national team could sink through the ground. “I blame myself for that,” he said. “The communication between me and the keeper was not good and then I tapped the ball at the feet of that boy,” he referred to goalscorer Amahl William Pellegrino.

Lots of opportunities

“Fortunately, we quickly make it 2-1, but after that we miss too many opportunities,” analyzed Martins Indi. “And then they strike in extra time. I don’t know if I could have shot that ball away. Maybe I could. Then in the last minute of the injury time of extra time I get another chance to equalize. But I headed wide, it wasn’t supposed to be.”

And so AZ is not for the first time in eight years in a quarterfinal of a European tournament and Bodø/Glimt remains the big surprise of the Conference League. The Norwegians first humiliated AS Roma 6-1 this season. Last month they were two times too strong for Celtic.

Eighteen wins

At the beginning of this month, Ajax ended a series of eighteen victories in a row against AZ in various competitions. Then the team of trainer Pascal Jansen only won against NEC. AZ is fourth in the Eredivisie, based on a better goal difference than FC Twente. The deficit on third classified Feyenoord has risen to 4 points.

“Winning the KNVB Cup is a great prize,” said Martins Indi. “And we would have liked to have progressed further in Europe. But I think we still have enough to fight for in the coming weeks. We now have to finish as high as possible in the competition. That’s what we’re going for.”