The http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Barcelona-c38604 legend has criticised the Eredivisie giants for being placed in the third pot of the draw, while expressing pessimistic views over his former club’s chances of surviving the group stages of Champions League.
Ajax Amsterdam have been drawn in the Group D of UEFA Champions League along with the likes of Real Madrid, Manchester City and Borussia Dortmund.
After watching his former club placed in such a tough pool, Johan Cruyff has stressed that it will be extremely difficult for the Amsterdammers to make progression to the knockout phase of the Europe’s primary club competition.
“This year, I have mixed feelings in the Champions League. Of course it's nice that Ajax play against the champions of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Germany-c2904. But at the same time, you realise that it is very difficult for the club to qualify for the knockout stages”,
the Ajax and Barcelona legend wrote in his column for De Telegraaf.
De Joden have won the Europe’s most prestigious club competition four times in their history, but their last triumph in the tournament came back in 1995.
Cruyff, who was part of the Amsterdammers playing XI that became European champions thrice in a row, was extremely disappointed to see the fall of the club at European level, where he won several pieces of silverware both as a player and as a manager.
The 65-year-old Dutchman stressed that the Amsterdam giants have failed to stamp their authority in the highest echelons of European football for the past 15 years or so, eventually lowering their UEFA club coefficient that forced them to be placed in the
third pot for the draw.
“This situation is mainly caused because Ajax were placed in the third pot of the draw. Over the last 17 years something clearly went wrong. How can it happen that a team that won the Champions League in 1995, and in the final again a year later, now find
themselves in the third pot”, Cruyff concluded.
Ajax will commence their Champions League campaign on Tuesday, when they lock horns against Borussia Dortmund at Signal Iduna Park on September 18.
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