Tuesday, December 5, 2023 at 10:46 AM • Bart DHanis • Last update: 12:20 PM
Ruud Gullit believes that all Ajax players who defeated Real Madrid in the Champions League in the 2018/19 season failed. He said this on Rondo, the football talk program of Ziggo Sport.
Regular table guest Marco van Basten states that it is best for young players to play many matches at PSV, Ajax or Feyenoord for their development. “They can rely on that and get better. Then you start looking at an even bigger challenge.”
Gullit refutes the argument of his former teammate at AC Milan. “I’m going to tell you something. All Ajax players who defeated Real Madrid in the Champions League (5-3 over two matches, ed.) have not succeeded anywhere abroad.”
“So there is no certainty,” the former Ballon d’Or winner continues. “All those players all failed, all of them. And they were all really top players at Ajax,” concludes Gullit.
Ajax managed to surprise friend and foe in 2019 by beating Real 1-4 in Estadio Santiago Bernabeu. The goals were scored by Hakim Ziyech, David Neres, Dusan Tadic and Lasse Schöne respectively.
On behalf of Ajax, André Onana, Matthijs de Ligt, Daley Blind, Noussair Mazraoui, Nicolás Tagliafico, Donny van de Beek and Frenkie de Jong were also on the field. After the Champions League success of the Amsterdam team, several players could count on a transfer.
Onana moved to Internazionale, where he reached the final of the Champions League last season. Manchester United took him over for fifty million euros last summer and he has been in charge at Old Trafford ever since.
De Ligt moved to Juventus for 75 million euros and now wears the shirt of Bayern Munich, where he is a teammate of Mazraoui. De Jong is one of the driving forces behind FC Barcelona and Ziyech currently plays for Galatasaray.
Neres transferred to Shakhtar Donetsk, but moved to Benfica due to the war in Ukraine. Van de Beek has often struggled with injuries in recent years and will probably close the door behind him at United next winter.
2023-12-05 09:46:00
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