Ajax is ready in the Champions League. After an earlier 2-2 draw against Benfica, a 0-1 defeat in front of their own audience followed on Tuesday evening, as a result of which the top club from Portugal reaches the quarterfinals. Football zone assesses the basic players of Ajax with a score.
Player report Ajax against Benfica
| PLAYER | FIGURE |
|---|---|
| André Onana | 3 |
| Noussair Mazraoui | 8.5 |
| Jurrien Timber | 6 |
| Lisandro Martinez | 8 |
| Daley Blind | 7 |
| Edson Alvarez | 5.5 |
| Steven Berghuis | 4.5 |
| Ryan Gravenberch | 7 |
| Anthony | 5 |
| Sebastien Haller | 5 |
| Dusan Tadic | 5.5 |
Andre Onana: 3
Ajax’s keeper finally made a mistake when he came out of his goal after Alejandro Grimaldo’s free kick, which resulted in the 0-1. Darwin Núñez was therefore able to head in too easily. It was one of the few moments when he had to intervene and therefore had a major influence on his assessment. In the final phase of the first half, Onana still came out well, with a cross from Darwin.
Noussair Mazraoui: 8.5
Mazraoui played an excellent match, in which he held the ball under pressure on the sidelines and played well with Ajax attackers on several occasions. With good tackles in the center circle, he captured the ball several times in the first half, taking the sting out of Benfica’s attacks. In the second half, Mazraoui was less visible from an attacking point of view, but he did make good moves on Everton, Darwin and Rafa Silva to win the ball.
Jurrien Timber: 6
In the first half, all of Timber’s key defensive moves succeeded. He was especially strong in the air and in this way intercepted long balls from Benfica in the opening phase. After fifteen minutes, he captured the ball around Nuñez’s own penalty area. He also didn’t look quite right with Darwin’s opening goal. He was childishly easy to physically trump by Darwin.
Lisandro Martinez: 8
Apart from a sloppy pass in the opening phase, which was intercepted by Rafa Silva, Martínez could look back on a good first half. He sent beautiful passes on, for example, Berghuis, Gravenberch and Antony; moreover, he kept Nuñez off the ball at a corner after 21 minutes and beautifully turned away between two men in minute 36. “He is so very calm with the ball”, concluded Rafael van der Vaart during the break. “Those gaps from left to right, he just kept on scattering.” Martínez also played strongly after the break. He blocked a cross from Darwin and corrected a pass from Blind that was too short.
Daley Blind: 7
Blind was one of the highlights of Ajax in the first half. He showed himself in an attacking sense, for example with beautiful passes on Tadic. Blind also sent a good pass that created a header chance for Gravenberch, after Blind cut out his opponent and combined with Gravenberch. But he was also important in the center circle with good interceptions in covering. After the break, Blind sent a nice cross to Antony from the back line, which created a head chance. He was lucky when a too short pass to Martínez was corrected by his teammate.
Edson Alvarez: 5.5
Álvarez hit himself in the head when he was substituted ten minutes before time. That was possibly because he caused the free kick from which Benfica opened the score. “Why is he making the violation there? He is facing the stands”, Jan Boskamp stammered afterwards. In the second half, Álvarez also let Jan Vertonghen escape from a corner, creating a header chance. In the first half, Álvarez was still sovereign. He used his body well and was dominant in midfield. In the first half, he entered by far the most duels of all Ajax players and won the majority of them. In the fourth minute he took the sting out of a Portuguese attack with a good tackle on Éverton. However, he could have gotten more out of the header opportunities he provided for himself.
Jan Boskamp criticizes Edson Álvarez’s violation:
“If my granddaughter does this, I’ll send her home”#UCL #AJABEN pic.twitter.com/ghbfZY8qUs
— VTBL ? (@vtbl) March 15, 2022
Steven Berghuis: 4.5
“Berghuis had two bad assumptions that just prevented him from getting a shot”, concluded Van der Vaart during the break. The attacker was not bold enough. For example, after 28 minutes he did not benefit from a good pass from Tadic, because he did not dare to shoot with the right leg. His shots were also unsuccessful. The interaction with Tadic and Antony was sometimes excellent. In the second half, Berghuis showed little and he was taken off in the final phase.
Ryan Gravenberch: 7
The savior of Ajax in the last competition match against SC Cambuur seems to be tapping his top level again. In the first half in particular, he was able to hold the ball, used his body well under pressure, conquered balls, executed successful attacks and accelerated Ajax’s attacks. Ten minutes before the break, Gravenberch cleverly moved in between two guards and fired a dangerous shot, which was processed by goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos. After the break, Gravenberch was less successful in his passes and assumptions.
Anthony: 5.5
Antony’s attempts for goal were not convincing enough. He had good timing with his headers, but just didn’t give the balls the right direction. When he received the ball at the sixteen-meter line after a corner from Tadic, he did not take it well out of the air. Although he sometimes played smoothly, Antony’s return was too low, while Ajax needed that.
Sebastien Haller: 5
When Haller received a good pass from Blind two minutes before the end, he surprisingly did not opt for a header towards goal, while the moment seemed to. He scored a good goal in the first half, which was disallowed for offside and showed himself to hold the ball before half-time. It was not a very memorable performance for the Frenchman.
Dusan Tadic: 5.5
The captain of Ajax started well with a bow to Berghuis and good crosses to both Antony and Álvarez; he found his teammates easy in the attack. Every now and then he had good interceptions and created chances. When he made an attempt himself four minutes after the break, he shot wide.