http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/AFC-Ajax-c38228 boss Frank de Boer believes Champions League elimination was a huge blow – UCL news
Frank de Boer, Ajax Amsterdam head coach, has revealed that his side’s elimination from the UEFA Champions League is a huge blow for the club.
The Amsterdammers conceded a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Real Madrid at Amsterdam Arena on Wednesday, December 7.
Ajax still could have progressed to the next phase of the competition on a superior goal difference. However, Olympique Lyonnais’ incredible 7-1 victory against Dinamo Zagreb saw the Amsterdam giants finish third in Group D, thus missing out on a place in
the Round of 16.
Prior to the match, the defending Dutch Champions were confident of making it through to the knock-out stage of Europe’s primary club competition.
However, the elimination has hit the coach and his players really hard, something De Boer admitted to.
“This is obviously a huge blow. Before the match we had a lot of faith that we'd get through in the Champions League. For us, the players and the fans (elimination) is not a scenario you can think about before the match”
“I thought it was an even game in the first half. We had the majority of the ball possession. It was a real setback to go in 2-0 behind at half-time, but I saw the score in Zagreb at that time was 1-0; then in the dressing room I heard it was 7-1 (to Lyon)”,
De Boer was quoted as saying to the media.
Ajax started the match in front of their home crowd impressively, but it was the Madrid giants went ahead in the 14th minute through Jose Maria Callejon.
The Amsterdammers then saw two perfect goals being disallowed by the referee over questionable offside decisions.
Los Blancos took full advantage of the poor refereeing doubled their lead four minutes before the half-time interval through Gonzalo Higuain.
After the break, the Amsterdammers tried to crawl their way back into the match. However, they failed to threaten the Madrid defence. Callejon’s strike in the injury time then sealed the game 3-0 in favour of the visitors.
Following their elimination from the Champions League, Ajax will now continue their European voyage in UEFA Europa League.
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