UEFA Champions League Qualifying Match Preview: Ajax vs. Dynamo Kyiv
AFC Ajax boss Martin Jol craves Champions League football with his club and the formidable form his strikers enjoy may just give him the edge when his side meets Dynamo Kyiv in a do or die Champions League qualifying play-off.
The UEFA Champions League holds much importance to all the European clubs and Jol just relishes the thought of taking the three time champions back into the competition. The 36-time Dutch League champions have not featured in the prestigious competition since the 05/06 season, and the manager confessed that getting back into the league would be ‘fantastic’. In their first leg, Jol’s side travelled to Ukraine to face Kyiv on their home soil. The match ended 1-1, with Ajax scoring the all-important away goal.
The coach now looks to build on that as they host the Ukrainian runners-up at home. The manager claimed that playing in the Europa League last season was a great experience, both with Ajax and some of his other clubs. The manager went on to win many fixtures in the Europa League and now hopes to achieve the same feat in the Champions League this year. Jol claims the experience to be fantastic, especially for his youngsters. The manager claimed that playing in the Champions League gives the youngsters a unique learning experience and plays an important role in their learning overall. The hosts expect the stadium to be jam-packed with some 50,000 people and midfielder Demy De Zeeuw relishes the fact to finally make their return in the Champions League.
"The whole club is geared to playing in the Champions League," claimed the midfielder.
Ajax, however, would be without injured Kenneth Vermeer, Rasmus Lindgren and Nicolas Lodeiro, and would also be missing Vurnon Anita, who was suspended. The team would be looking to keep the momentum going following their 3-0 victory over Roda JC. The entire match was dominated by the new strike partnership between World Cup star Luis Suarez and Mounir El Hamdaoui. The Uruguayan was responsible for setting up the first two goals for El Hamdaoui, who later returned the favour by setting one for Suarez. The match ended 3-0 on the day, with El Hamdaoui scoring Ajax’s 50,000th goal in history. Great things can thus be expected from the striking duo, as both players look to be in top form. Suarez had a great World Cup with Uruguay, when his side reached the semi-finals of the prestigious tournament. Last season, Suarez enjoyed top form, scoring 49 goals in 48 appearances for Ajax, earning the Golden Boot award.
On the other side, Dynamo coach Valery Gazzaev has a lot of issues to cater for. The manager still has to figure out the best striking partnership to enable his side to score. For him to avoid his team not featuring in the competition for first time since 05/06, Kyiv would either have to win or draw the match 2-2. Artem Milevskiy has not found his top form as yet and his partner, Denys Garmash, was suspended in the first leg of the match. Facundo Bertoglio is considered to be a suitable replacement but is currently injured. Dynamo had to settle with a frustrating draw with FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk over the weekend as none of the Brazilian strikers Andre and Guilherme managed to step up to the occasion.
"Bertoglio has a muscle problem, Milevskiy is out of form, Guilherme and Andre are not in top condition," claimed Gazzaev. Good news for Kyiv’s manager would be that he would still have Miloš Ninković and central defender Yevhen Khacheridi at his disposal, as both of players have successfully passed their fitness tests.
An interesting encounter can be expected from this tie, as both the sides have a lot to prove to each other. Ajax look to finally make it into the Champions League after a long absence, while Dynamo look to protect their consistency in the tournament.
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