Daley Blind likes a meeting with Manchester United in the Europa League. The Ajax defender played at Old Trafford between 2014 and 2018 and scored a final victory against his current employer in 2016. “It would be nice to meet Manchester United, but if I have to choose, preferably in the final,” says Blind after the 0-2 victory over Young Boys.
On Friday Ajax will know who will be the opponent in the quarterfinals. There is also a direct draw for the semi-finals. The final battle in Gdansk is still a long way off, Blind knows. “We have to get there first, so let’s look at it step by step and first wait and see who we have to tackle in the next round,” he says in conversation with ESPN ahead of the quarterfinals.
Blind played 64 minutes in Bern. He had recovered from knee problems and would have liked to finish the match. “The change was not so much agreed. It’s never nice to get off, but I could agree with it ”, says the defender. “It makes sense, of course, because I took a break. I would have liked to remain standing, but the trainer decides. Maybe it was his consideration that I was on edge. ” All players who would be yellow-carded for the next round, Nicolás Tagliafico, Blind and David Neres, were substituted after the break.
The only dissonance at Ajax narrowly escapes an unsatisfactory
Voetbalzone handed out scores to the players of Ajax.
Arsenal, Granada, AS Roma, Dinamo Zagreb, Manchester United, Slavia Prague and Villarreal are the possible opponents. “Zagreb, Granada or Slavia Prague are the three weakest teams in my opinion”, Ronald de Boer says in the studio. “If I had to name one, I would name Zagreb.” Kenneth Perez responds with a laugh: “They have just eliminated Tottenham. Do you know how good you have to be? ”
Erik ten Hag took a ‘quick look’ at the results, he says RTL7, but ‘sees tomorrow’ who will be the opponent. “You have no influence on it anyway, so we let it get over us. We are going to prepare as well as possible and we want to get as far as possible, but it will be tough. We know we have a good team and we are growing, so we can continue this line. “