Ajax awaits the second match in the group stage of the Champions League on Tuesday. After the 0-1 defeat against Liverpool last week, Erik ten Hag’s team is almost forced to achieve a good result against Atalanta to keep an eye on the next round of the billion dollar ball. Journalist Willem Haak, specialized in Italian football, predicts a 3-2 victory La Dea. “I estimate Atalanta slightly stronger than Ajax at the moment.”

Hook says talking to Ajax Showtime that Atalanta has been the club with the best policy in Italy for years. He indicates that the club has developed its own style in training players, who can then be sold for a lot of money. “In fact, it is still a provincial club. If forty million euros is offered, you really cannot refuse it. And they know that they can replace players anyway. It has always succeeded in recent years. The best players are sold. but they always perform again. They have confidence in their own policy. “

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According to Haak, Atalanta often plays in a 3-5-2 or a 3-4-3 with an offensive playing style. According to him, the Italians almost always play with three central defenders and two backs: Hans Hateboer and Robin Gosens. “They come up a lot on the flanks. You could therefore say that their weakness is behind those wing backs. The central defenders have to fill in those gaps when they are gone. So it will be an open and interesting game, because they are both. attacking teams. “

Haak says that Ajax must especially watch out for attacker Papu Gómez. “He has really become a star player and is in very good shape. He pops up a lot between the lines. What’s nice about him is that he often uses the referee as a reference point to run free. When they have to isolate and cover a player,” then it is Gomez “, said the journalist, who also points to striker Duván Zapata. “He is really an animal. It will be difficult to physically stop him, so Ajax will have to approach that in a different way. Those are two players that I would keep an eye on if I were Ajax.”