Ajax suffered a shocking defeat against Napoli in the Champions League on Tuesday evening. Thanks to a goal from Mohammed Kudus, the team from Amsterdam still took the lead, but after the equalizer of the visitors, Ajax’s defense collapsed like a house of cards: 1-6. Ajax has never conceded six goals in the Champions League or in a European home match. At the same time, Liverpool were 2-0 too strong for Rangers in the other game in Group A.
Schreuder chose not to make any changes compared to the lost game with Liverpool (2-1). That meant that Kudus was once again favored over Brian Brobbey in the striker position, while the flanks were covered by Dusan Tadic (right) and Steven Bergwijn (left). Davy Klaassen, who made the opening goal against Go Ahead Eagles (1-1) last weekend, had to settle for a place on the bench. At Napoli, the injured Victor Osimhen was replaced by Raspadori, while Hirving Lozano also started as a starting player.
The new ????. ???????????????????? ????????????? ?? Mohammed Kudus is just doing it again for the Amsterdammers??#ZiggoSport #UCL #AJANAP pic.twitter.com/TD7t822zwp
— Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) Oct 4, 2022
The choice for Kudus immediately seemed the right one, because the Ghanaian took care of the opening goal in the ninth minute of play. Taylor got the ball at his feet after a cross from Bergwijn and he took it out, after which the ball came in through Kudus’ leg: 1-0. Ajax could not enjoy the lead for long, because less than ten minutes later Napoli was already level. After a cross from the left by Mathías Olivera, Daley Blind came too late to prevent Giacomo Raspadori from nodding in: 1-1.
Ajax then escaped a few times, partly thanks to rescues by Remko Pasveer, but Napoli still struck in the 33rd minute. This time Jurriën Timber was knocked in the air by Giovanni Di Lorenzo, who made the 1-2 with a good header. The deficit widened even further on the stroke of the halftime signal. The Amsterdam defense was completely open, allowing Piotr Zielinski to take care of the 1-3 in complete freedom. A few minutes before the margin was doubled, Pasveer kept his team in the game, but with the third goal, the closing post did not seem to go unpunished.
This is painful… ?? Pasveer makes a mistake and he is immediately penalized: 4-1 ??#ZiggoSport #UCL #AJANAP pic.twitter.com/XuV8cJ9nF2
— Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) Oct 4, 2022
In the second act, Schreuder’s team failed to put things in order. Despite the considerable backlog, the elector also decided not to make any personnel changes. Napoli extended the lead two minutes after the break, when Pasveer blundered when Bassey came in. André-Frank Zambo Anguissa could easily take over and beat Raspadori, who made his second of the evening: 1-4. Afterwards, Napoli took his foot off the accelerator somewhat, but that did not lead to more opportunities for Ajax.
After an hour of play, the disappointment became even greater for the home team. After a failed intervention by Devyne Rensch, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia got the ball in front of his feet and he scored in a cold-blooded way: 1-5. Twenty minutes before the end, Schreuder made the first changes by introducing Brobbey and Klaassen, although they were unable to turn the tide either. To make matters worse, Dusan Tadic was sent off with a second yellow card for handing out an elbow. Finally substitute Giovanni Simeone, who scored on a pass from Tanguy Ndombele, played the final chord: 1-6.