This is the thread for discussions about Ajax's Champions League games in the 2003-2004 season. For discussions about the first round opponents before te actual games, please visit the Champions League draw thread...

AC Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti revealed his squad of 22 for tomorrow night's fixture against Ajax. I suppose three of them will drop out, as the squad for the actual game may not have be larger than 18 players. The following 22 players are selected for now:

Goalkeepers: Abbiati, Dida.

Defenders: Cafu, Costacurta, Laursen, Maldini, Nesta, Simic.

Midfielders: Ambrosini, Brocchi, Gattuso, Kakà, Pirlo, Redondo, Rivaldo, Rui Costa, Seedorf, Serginho.

Forwards: Borriello, Inzaghi, Shevchenko, Tomasson.

Quite remarkably Ancelotti kind of announced that Inzaghi will probably not play from the start. A striker couple consisting of Shevchenko and Rivaldo is in the line of expectation.

Found this on Reuters....for the annoraks amongst us:

Champions League Group H
Head-to-head record:
Played: 6
Wins: Ajax 3, AC Milan 2
Draws: 1

Previous meetings:
European Cup final 1968-69
AC Milan 4 Ajax Amsterdam 1

Champions League group phase 1994-95
Ajax Amsterdam 2 AC Milan 0
AC Milan 0 Ajax Amsterdam 2

Champions League final 1994-95
Ajax Amsterdam 1 AC Milan 0

Champions League quarter-final 2002-03
Ajax Amsterdam 0 AC Milan 0
AC Milan 3 Ajax Amsterdam 2

AC Milan:
Last six European home matches: LWWLWD
Last home defeat: 0-1 v Borussia Dortmund CL 18/3/03
Leading Champions League scorer in current squad: Filippo Inzaghi 27 (including 17 for Juventus)
Leading European scorer for Milan in squad: Andriy Shevchenko 17
All-time leading scorer: Jose Altafini 20
Coach: Carlo Ancelotti

Record v Dutch clubs: P12 W6 D1 L5 F13 A12
Home to Dutch clubs: P5 W3 D0 L2 F6 A5

Ajax Amsterdam:
Last six European away matches: WDDDLD
Last away win: 2-0 v Olympique Lyon CL 30/10/02
Leading Champions League scorer in current squad: Jari Litmanen 20
Leading European scorer for Ajax in squad: Jari Litmanen 26
All-time leading scorer: Jari Litmanen 26
Coach: Ronald Koeman

Record v Italian clubs: P29 W10 D9 L10 F34 A33
Away to Italian clubs: P12 W2 D3 L7 F13 A20

I just saw Dario Simic in an interview on eurosport and he said: Ajax's best player was sold to Inter but they're still a good team.

Allow me to issue a warning of mr. Simic's ability to judge talent.

Back to the game then...

Check out the Ajax USA homepage: some nice quotes and a link to good pre-game article on UEFA.com. If I find more good stuff during the day I will add links to the homepage, so stay tuned...

http://www.ajax-usa.com/

By the way: Tom Soetaers was not yet allowed to play in the preliminary round against Grazer AK, but he is allowed to play from now on. I didn't know this (I thought he wasn't allowed to play Champions League games for Ajax until the winter break) and I think it's kind of weird. I mean: he was bought after the closing of the transfer window. These rules have to become stricter, even though Ajax is now reaping the fruits of it (for a change; otherwise it only brings us disadvantages).

Soetaers, by the way, is one of the very few players who knows what it feels like to win in San Siro. Believe it or not, but he played AC Milan with Roda JC a few years ago - and they came extremely close to eliminating them. Roda lost their home game by 0-1 and no-one expected them to make any kind of impact whatsoever in Milan, but they won the game by the same score of 0-1.

Then they lost on penalty kicks. Milan and Roda both missed a bunch, so it was only 3-2 to Milan. Roda actually took the lead on pennos, but then - too bad for him - Soetaers was one of the guys to miss.

Anyways - any thoughts on the line-up?

Koeman announced that he will roughly stick to the RKC line-up, with - perhaps - one or two 'minor adjustments'. One of those adjustments will normally be the replacement of Nigel de Jong by Hatem Trabelsi (although De Jong was superb and Trabelsi sucked against RKC). How 'bout this one?

Lobont; Trabelsi, Yakubu, Escudé, Maxwell; Pienaar, Galásek, Van der Vaart, Soetaers; Sonck, Ibrahimovic.

Predicitons for tonight?

I reckon 2-0 to Milan.....

0-0.

Or maybe 1-0 to Milan.

Expected line-up according to Ajax Netwerk, based on last night's training...

Lobont; Trabelsi, Pasanen, Escudé, Maxwell; Pienaar, Galásek, Yakubu, Van der Vaart; Sonck, Ibrahimovic.

Great line-up. Probably the best (better than the one I suggested above anyway). Raffy always plays his best games as a left midfielder. I also agree with Yakubu and Galásek in midfield: two fairly defensive players, in order to isolate the strikers and to stop their offensive midfielders.

I like Menno's second line-up option, am happily surprised that Soetaers is eligible, and am hoping for, and believe Ajax can achieve, a 1:1 or 2:2 scoreline.

I suspect 1 - 1.
Anyway, good luck to Ajax and to us!

The TV listings for ESPN show that ESPN Atlantic will be showing AC Milan vs. Ajax tonight at 4:45 PM-7:00 PM. What is ESPN Atlantic? Can we in the US see this?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AFC Ajax
The TV listings for ESPN show that ESPN Atlantic will be showing AC Milan vs. Ajax tonight at 4:45 PM-7:00 PM. What is ESPN Atlantic? Can we in the US see this?

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The match is underway. According to UEFA text svc (matchcentrelight/matchday=1/day=1/match=1056811/index.html), Ajax are playing well:

"Rafael van der Vaart has a shot which goes just wide. Ajax are enjoying the majority of possession. They are playing like the home team. ... Ajax have certainly settled faster than their hosts and do not appear to have come here for the draw. "

HUP AJAX!!!

UEFA.COM: "This has been a very open game so far and hugely entertaining."

Now I am crying... Why can't I be watching this game? Answer: see Ajax on Television thread for more information.