Ajax had to settle for a 2-2 draw on a visit to Atalanta in the second group match of the Champions League on Tuesday evening. On the side of the Amsterdammers, Lassina Traoré and Antony impressed the Italian media. Still, Dúvan Zapata, who eliminated Ajax’s 0-2 lead with two goals in the second half, is bombarded in Italy as man of the match.

The Italian branch of Eurosport hands out a 7 to Antony, while Traoré gets a 7.5. “He is a peg, but also knows how to react”, you can read about Traoré. From Calciomercato Antony gets a higher mark than the striker: an 8 for a 7.5. “Antony was everywhere, constantly switching between the attack and the defense. The fact that he did not score a goal was because Marco Sportiello (the goalkeeper of Atalanta, ed.) Prevented this several times. Eventually he left the field on a stretcher, while there was applause. ”

Also Tuttomercatoweb gives a higher mark to Antony. The Brazilian attacker comes off with a 7, while Traoré’s performance is rated with a 6.5. “After just a few minutes of play, he gave off the first signal with a shot at goal. He played very well and was difficult to defend ”, it sounds. Incidentally, Dusan Tadic also generally receives a good rating in Italy, from Eurosport (a 6.5), Calciomercato (a 7), Tuttomercatoweb (a 6.5) and StadioNews (a 7).

Only one Ajax player did play sovereignly against Atalanta

Voetbalzone handed out scores to the basic players of Ajax.View report

The failures on the side of Ajax are handed out to the defenders. Noussair Mazraoui gets a 5 out of this Eurosport. “He actually deserved his second yellow card for his substitution,” says the Italian medium. Calciomercato Conversely, hands out a 5 to Perr Schuurs and Daley Blind. “He dances a little too little”, people write about Schuurs. According to Calciomercato Blind made a mistake on both goals against. “He has personality and experience, until he met Zapata who accelerated.”

According to the Italian media, Zapata is without a doubt the man of the match, because from every medium he gets at least an 8 for his performance against Ajax. La Gazzetta dello Sport saw ‘no hesitation’ in Zapata, Tuttomercatoweb calls him an ‘assassin’, the Corriere dello Sport states that the Colombian striker took Atalanta by the hand and Sky Italia concludes that with the double stroke he ‘is also becoming increasingly decisive in Europe’.

“We have shown a lot of spirit. I have scored many goals in my career, but these are very important. The team is growing, because of our pride we wanted to go deep when it got difficult ”, Zapata says afterwards in conversation with Sky Italia. “After the first half, we were aware that we were playing well, but that we just needed a little luck and patience to score. That worked after the break and we were even close to the third goal in the final phase. ”

“We had never played against Ajax before, so I was curious how we would do it,” added Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini. “They have a fast football style, with a lot of technique. It was an important test for us, both teams play in a risky way. If space is created, some risks arise. It is clear that the decisive pass must be better for us, that makes the difference in these types of matches. We had to deal with the impact of their attacks. ”