Ajax will again receive a lot of praise from the media abroad on Thursday for the performances in the Champions League. After the 1-3 win over Borussia Dortmund, the team of coach Erik ten Hag is certain of the knockout phase in the European billion-dollar ball and the counter is at twelve points after four match days. After Spartak Moscow (1995/96), FC Porto (1996/97) and Zenit Saint Petersburg (2015/16), Ajax is only the fourth club from outside the five major competitions (England, Spain, Germany, Italy or France) to manages to win the first four matches of a CL campaign.
After Ajax’s victory over Borussia Dortmund, there is a lot of criticism in Germany about the decision of the arbitration to send Mats Hummels off the field. BILD describes the red card for Hummels as ‘a joke’. “Borussia Dortmund went on to be knocked out. England referee Michael Oliver’s wrong decision could have major consequences. BVB played with one less man for over an hour after Hummels was wrongly sent away. Despite this, Dortmund still took the lead, but with ten men it was not possible to cross that margin.” According to kicker ‘Eventually a wrong decision by the referee turned the game’. “Michael Oliver didn’t judge a duel well. With one man less, Dortmund was under prolonged pressure and the victory could not be secured.”
???????? ???????? ???????? ???????????????? ?? After any doubt, the defender must leave the field anyway. Say it ??#ZiggoSport #UCL #BVBAJA pic.twitter.com/gILxvzFhZd
— Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) Nov 3, 2021
“A great fight, a bitter end,” writes Sports1, who thought the red card for Hummels ‘exaggerated’. “The revenge for the historic defeat in Amsterdam failed. The match was attractive and, unlike two weeks ago, not one-sided.” Also the Süddeutsche Zeitung dwells on the red card and describes the moment as ‘a dam break in the 29th minute’. “When Hummels got red, the game was far from over. You cannot play against a stormy playing Ajax for so long, which already won 4-0 with 11 against 11 two weeks ago.”
Die Welt also saw that Borussia Dortmund was broken again by the team from Amsterdam in the second half. “More passion, but again no points. Borussia Dortmund have missed the hoped-for revenge for an embarrassing 4-0 defeat and a step towards the last 16 in the Champions League. In the second half it became a defensive battle for Borussia.” L’Equipe warns the other teams in the Champions League for Ajax in the further course of the Champions League. “This season, Ajax has to be taken into account, which with its attractive football has all the ingredients to surprise again in the knockout phase.”
According to the Daily Mail is Ajax working on a standout Champions League campaign. In a fit of nostalgia, the English newspaper even has to think back to the 1970s. “Ajax, Bayern Munich and Liverpool (along with Juventus already certain of the knockout phase, ed.) won all European Cup editions between 1971 and 1978. Ajax is working on a standout Champions League campaign. And that while they were flatly ignored when the English, Italian and Spanish Super League founders wanted to shape their failed project months ago.”
BBC Sports thought it was right that Ajax still took the win in Dortmund. “It was no more than deserved for Ajax. The Ten Hag team patiently searched for the equalizer and then for the goals that resulted in a place in the next round.” In France and Italy, the scoring drive of Sébastien Haller is particularly striking. The attacker made his seventh goal in just four Champions League matches on Wednesday. Thanks in particular to a decisive goal from Haller in the 86th minute, Ajax settled with Borussia in Dortmund. L’Equipe. “Like two weeks ago in the Johan Cruijff Arena (4-0) the attacking trio Dusan Tadic-Haller-Antony posed a lasting danger to the ailing defense of Borussia.”
Sebastien Haller Again he and the match seems decided ??#ZiggoSport #UCL #DORAJX pic.twitter.com/H4bSSy5K99
— Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) Nov 3, 2021
“Dortmund played more enterprising and less confused than in the Netherlands, but did not keep up the pace against Ajax, who are currently playing confidently and confidently.” Also La Gazzetta dello Sport picks out the goal production of the French-Ivorian striker. “Ajax exploited the numerical majority in minute 72 thanks to Tadic. And did it stop there? None of that: it was again Haller who dealt the final blow, with a good header. Seven goals in four matches, four out of four for Ajax, which already has a qualification for the knockout phase. And in the end there was also a third goal via Davy Klaassen.”
“A Dutch club that is a favorite on the field of the second largest club from Germany: in 2021 you can. Especially after the football lesson in the Johan Cruijff Arena two weeks ago,” writes The newspapaer, that saw that ‘the sparkling football’ of Ajax was not forthcoming. “Dortmund erected a yellow wall and Ajax had difficulty in creating opportunities, until Tadic was able to push in a cross from Antony twenty minutes before the end. In the final minutes, the Dutch still crossed the line through Haller and Klaassen: 1-3. Not fantastically beautiful, but efficient. Ajax continues to deliver results and is now the first Dutch club to take twelve out of twelve in the group stage of the Champions League.”