Class difference in the first leg: Ajax shows YB the limits

The Young Boys received the long-awaited defeat in the first knockout round of the Europa League at Ajax Amsterdam. Progress becomes a Herculean task for the Bernese after 0: 3 in Amsterdam.

Until ten minutes before the end of the match, the Swiss champions had received a playful massage in Amsterdam, but they got out of the way considerably. Only a loss from substitute Nicolas Moumi Ngamaleu opened Ajax the important 2-0, which YB would have put under great pressure ahead of the second leg in Bern. Substitute Brian Brobbey stole the last hopes of a blow from Berne in the second leg in the third minute of stoppage time at 3-0. “Ajax showed us the limits today,” YB coach Gerardo Seoane told Swiss TV SRF after the game.

His team had been shown in the opening minutes of the match at the Johan Cruyff Arena what to expect in the next 90 minutes. Ajax let the ball run well and threw their outside players fast and dribbling over and over into the depths. This meant a lot of running effort for Bern’s defensive ranks, and YB paid tribute to him in the final minutes. The circumstances that led to the clear, though deserved defeat, are troublesome.

Ajax’s 1-0 through Davy Klaassen after an hour was started by Cedric Zesiger’s foot and Fabian Lustenberger’s chest, before 2-0 in the 82nd minute, substitute Moumi Ngamaleu refused to work. The 26-year-old Cameroonian stopped short on a pass from Cedric Zesiger, seconds later, the agreement of Ajax captain Dusan Tadic fell behind Guillaume Faivre. And so YB enters the second stage with an almost desperate starting position rather than a staggeringly good one.

Replacement lens Faivre is doing a good job

Only thanks to goalkeeper Guillaume Faivre, the mortgage in Wankdorf will not be even higher. The 34-year-old from Neuchâtel, who replaced starting goalkeeper David von Ballmoos, who suffered a concussion, was the man from the start. Faivre radiated calm in his actions and contributed with words to the fact that the people in front of him controlled the opponent well in the meantime. Again and again his instructions could be heard in the closed and practically empty Johan Cruyff Arena. Faivre showed his greatest act six minutes after the break when he was able to deflect an Edson Álvarez header from a few yards.

Because the Dutch were more concerned with the accumulation of the ball than Leverkusen in the 16th final, the guest on offense was barely outnumbered. As a general rule, the attackers Meschack Elia and Jean-Pierre Nsame were alone at the front, so there was no danger from this. The only scene in Ajax’s penalty area was when winger Silvan Hefti was able to advance in the 6th minute and Christian Fassnacht found Nsame with a cross.

Telegram:

Ajax Amsterdam – Young Boys 3: 0 (0: 0)

SR Guide (ITA). – Tore: 62. Klaassen 1: 0. 82. Tadic 2: 0. 92. Brobbey 3: 0.

Ajax from Amsterdam: Stekelenburg; Rensch (67. Schuurs), Timber, Martinez, Tagliafico; Álvarez, Klaassen, Gravenberch; Antony (67. Idrissi), Tadic, Neres (83. Brobbey).

Young boys: Faivre; Hefti, Camara (34. Zesiger), Lustenberger, Lefort; Fassnacht (85th Siebatcheu), Lauper (71st Sierro), Aebischer, Sulejmani (46th Moumi Ngamaleu); Elia (71. Mambimbi), Nsame.

Comments: Ajax Amsterdam without Haller (ineligible to play), Onana (doping ban) Blind and Mazraoui (both injured). Young Boys without Von Ballmoos, Martins and Petignat (all injured). Camera removed with calf injury. Post shot 86 Tadic. Warnings: 49th Lauper (foul), 53rd Tagliafico (foul), 64th Aebischer (foul / penalized for the second leg), 78th Sierro (foul).