Dortmund gets a place in the museum of fine arts’

Wednesday, October 20, 2021 at 07:30• Last update: 07:51

The Dutch newspapers are lyrical about Ajax, which wiped the floor with Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League on Tuesday evening: 4-0. According to The Telegraph Ajax made ‘global publicity for Dutch football and the Amsterdam training’. Thanks to an own goal from Marco Reus and hits from Daley Blind, Antony and Sébastien Haller, the team of coach Erik ten Hag won with large numbers from the number two in the Bundesliga.

According to reporter Mike Verweij, Ten Hag had ‘the perfect battle plan’ against Dortmund. “Whereas Lisandro Martínez and Jurriën Timber – under the motto ‘if you are not strong, you must be smart’ – were like hornets on Haaland’s skin. With his logical, but painful decision for Davy Klaassen to list Steven Berghuis as number ten, the Ajax coach opted for his most creative player in that position. As a sign that he would fight Borussia Dortmund with Ajax’s distinctive and most attractive way of playing. And anyone who maintains after Ajax-Borussia Dortmund that 1-4-3-3 in international top football is no longer of this time can no longer be taken seriously,” he writes.

According to Verweij, a match unfolded ‘as Johan Cruijff had in mind when he shook things up at Ajax in 2010’. The journalist saw Ajax perform ‘a great football show’ and Ten Hag following in the footsteps of Louis van Gaal, who in 1995 was the only trainer in Ajax’s club history to win the first three group matches in the Champions League. “That edition of the million-dollar ball Ajax did not (just) succeed in prolonging the title of the previous season, because the final was lost to Juventus after penalties. The final battle is still far away. But Ajax can at least dream of it for a while after the spectacle against Dortmund.”

Blind excels against Dortmund: ‘This is a piece of recognition’

“Where does this end?” it writes General Newspaper on the front page of AD Sports World. The newspaper writes about ‘an outright masterclass’ by Ajax. Among other things, the value of the South American players in Amsterdam’s service is highlighted: “Lisandro Martínez as a rock in the surf, Edson Álvarez as tireless playmaker and balance guard, and Antony as an absolute trendsetter.” The newspaper is counting on Ajax to qualify for the eighth finals. “With nine points and resounding goal figures (11-1) Ajax has to make it very difficult not to join the European elite after two years of absence after the winter, in the eighth final of the billion-dollar ball.”

“Ajax – Dortmund will have a place in the museum of fine arts. Ajax was art”, writes Willem Vissers in his report de Volkskrant. The reporter is lyrical about the performance of the Amsterdammers. “It was football to enjoy, to eat until the last turn of the ball, football that should have lasted forever, or at least until deep into the Amsterdam night. Sophisticated position play, superb technique, guts and creativity. Game joy. Ajax was a class better in all aspects and humiliated the Germans.” He calls Ajax ‘the machine of confetti that almost gave the stadium hallucinations, so it rained snippets of happiness’.

Vissers refers to the enormous smoke development at the start of the match after Ajax fans set off fireworks. “After the smoke of fireworks cleared, as if it was supposed to be, as if the curtain on the set was slowly opening to the performers. Ajax on the stage of football, in a play with countless protagonists, with prompter Erik ten Hag in the wings,” says Vissers. According to the journalist, Ten Hag didn’t have to say much, because ‘the actors knew what they had to do’: “Have fun, be in harmony, stay together, always have the highest word.” All the main players are discussed in the report: “Sébastien Haller, the striker, finisher and declarant at the same time on the red and white carpet. Antony, the dribbling scoundrel. Dusan Tadic, the boss of the stuff. Steven Berghuis, for the improvisation.”

Jurriën Timber and Lisandro Martínez, the chic bouncers of the luxurious theatre, continues Vissers. “Daley Blind, the genius who understands his role like no other. Edson Álvarez, the sober strategist. Noussair Mazraoui, the usher who completes all the roles of others. Remko Pasveer, the old man with the rest, with brilliant saves on the chances for super striker Haaland. Ryan Gravenberch, for all deed-to-player connections. A wonderful company. Go see it, until it ceases to exist in this formation, until the larger companies buy the actors away, although they won’t quite know where to start.”

Fidelity saw the duel with Dortmund for Ajax as ‘the first exam this season at the highest level’. Ajax passed with flying colors: “Rarely has a team from the top of the Bundesliga on Dutch soil been played from pillar to post when Borussia Dortmund came over at times on Tuesday evening. In the swirling Johan Cruijff ArenA it became a special evening for Dutch football, with historical features. The 4-0 result was a meager reflection of the series of opportunities that Ajax created. Ajax can hardly miss a ticket for the knockout phase of the Champions League after three matches.”