Marco van Ginkel did not want to hear anything on Saturday evening about the suggestion that PSV is further ahead in the preparation than Ajax thanks to the three matches of the Eindhoven team in the preliminary rounds of the Champions League. Roger Schmidt’s team made an excellent impression in both the double showdown with Galatasaray and the first game with FC Midtjylland and wiped the floor with Ajax in the battle for the Johan Cruijff Scale on Saturday.
“Then they should start preparing earlier”, Van Ginkel spoke clearly. “Ajax did not play any official matches, but I don’t think that matters for the preparation.” Erik ten Hag’s team did not suffer any defeat in the preparation, with victories over Koninklijke HFC (6-0), SC Paderborn 07 (1-4), Anderlecht (0-2) and Leeds United (3-1 and 4- 0). The meetings with Quick’20 (1-1), Bayern Munich (2-2) and RB Leipzig (1-1) ended in a draw.
Ajax’s worst player after Nicolás Tagliafico gets a 4.5
Voetbalzone handed out report figures to the players of Ajax and PSV.
Yet at the same time, Van Ginkel did not want to draw too big conclusions from the duel for the Johan Cruijff Scale. “We played against ten men for a large part of the game”, he referred to the red card for Nicolás Tagliafico. “We started well with that quick 0-1. After that we had a hard time and we were lucky that the VAR rejected Ajax’s equalizer.”
“After the 0-2 it was done”, said the midfielder, who himself missed two great opportunities after the break. “But all in all I am very satisfied.” Madueke has played a major role in PSV’s advances in the early season, having already scored against Galatasaray and FC Midtjylland in the Champions League and in the Johan Cruijff ArenA, scoring the premature decision in the 2nd and 29th minutes.
“Madueke has started the season very well, although he already showed great moments last season,” Van Ginkel agreed. “He is becoming more and more mature and is now also going to decide matches. It’s just a pleasure to have him play with us.” PSV will see FC Midtjylland again on Tuesday and the Eredivisie will start for Schmidt’s team on Saturday with an away game against Heracles Almelo.