Due to their busy schedule, AZ and Feyenoord are not at a disadvantage compared to Ajax and PSV in the title battle in the Eredivisie in the coming weeks. That is what AZ coach Pascal Jansen said on Thursday in his preview of Friday’s away match against Vitesse.
“It is of course still a bit of looking into the crystal ball, but the teams that matter are used to playing several matches,” said Jansen, who will compete with AZ in the eighth finals of the Conference League in the next two weeks. against Lazio. At the same time, Feyenoord will meet Shakhtar Donetsk in the eighth finals of the Europa League. Ajax and PSV only participate in the competition and the KNVB Cup.
After 23 rounds, AZ is 5 points behind leader Feyenoord and 2 points behind Ajax. “We want to compete for the top spots as long as possible,” said Jansen. ,,We suffered a bit with the defeat of two weeks ago at Feyenoord. Based on the current position, I can imagine that people say that the title fight is between Feyenoord and Ajax. But it’s close together. It’s not that the gap can’t be bridged. We are now only talking about the next game.”
Jansen, like Feyenoord, would have liked to have been active on three fronts. However, the Alkmaarders lost to FC Utrecht in the cup last month. Utrecht then went down 4-1 on Tuesday against the amateurs of Spakenburg. ,,That’s the beauty of the cup tournament. Look at England, where Southampton lose to Grimsby Town in the FA Cup. That’s how the cup tournament should be a bit sometimes, although I would have liked to have been there with AZ myself.”
At the beginning of January, AZ lost 2 points in the home game in the Eredivisie against Vitesse: 1-1. “That was a tough match. Vitesse is well organized,” said Jansen. “For Vitesse, the situation is a bit different now. The result becomes more and more important as the end of the competition approaches.”
Vitesse coach Phillip Cocu expects a similar game as in Alkmaar. “AZ has a fixed way of playing, with a good structure and good quality players who can make the difference. Where they rank says enough about their consistent performance. But I expect that, just like in Alkmaar, we will show that we can do it again.”
‘Victory talents at Barcelona radiates throughout AZ’
Pascal Jansen is proud of AZ’s oldest youth team that beat FC Barcelona 3-0 in the eighth finals of the UEFA Youth League on Wednesday. “This victory reflects on the entire club,” said the AZ coach. “The boys played a very mature game. These are top duels for our young men. It is good that some players with AZ can already participate in the Kitchen Champion Division. There they build up a certain hardness and play against grown guys. They, and we as a club, benefit from that.”
Kees Smit opened the score against Barcelona shortly after the break, with a shot from a great distance. That beautiful goal has been viewed online many times. ,,Smit reminds me a bit of Marco van Ginkel in his younger years, also in terms of game intelligence”, said Jansen. ,,It is not for nothing that he joined us at training camp during the winter break. He is doing well and if he continues like this he will increase his chances of getting into the A-selection.”
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