Ajax’s Europa League campaign hangs in the balance as they host Molde in their final group stage match.
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Ajax head into their tie with group leaders Molde knowing a win is not enough to take them into the next round, with Frank de Boer’s side relying on Fenerbahce to slip up at home to already eliminated Celtic.
Speaking during his press conference De Boer admitted his side only have a “five percent” chance of qualifying. He added, “That’s not much, but you never know in football.
“It’s just like in the casino. Usually you lose, sometimes you win. Hopefully we have luck on our side.”
De Boer believes Ajax only have themselves to blame if they do exit on Thursday, “Fenerbahce, Celtic and Molde are not better than the big three in the Eredivisie,”
“We should have collected at least seven points at home and we are not going to make that. Two draws at home is simply not good enough and we are made to pay for it.
“We dominated in all the games except against Fenerbahce but we forgot to kill off those games, while our opponents only needed one or two chances.
“The late goal we conceded versus Fenerbahce was a costly one. You cannot afford that at this level.”
Ajax warmed up for the game with a 5-2 hammering of Heerenveen which keeps them top of the Eredivisie, while opponents Molde haven’t played a competitive game since a 2-0 defeat against Fenerbahce two weeks ago. The Norwegian side’s league campaign ended last month.
Team News
Ajax go into the game without the injured Daley Sinkgraven while Anwar El Ghazi is a doubt after suffering a setback in training. German winger Amin Younes and midfielder Donny van de Beek are set to start the game along with Ricardo van Rhijn, who should come in for Kenny Tete.
Possible Ajax line-up: Cillessen, Van Rhijn, Dijks, Riedewald, Veltman, Van de Beek, Klaassen, Gudelj, Younes, Fischer, Milik
Possible Molde line-up: Horvath, Linnes, Toivio, Forren, Gabrielsen, Singh, Hestad, Hussain, Gulbrandsen, Elyounoussi, Svendsen
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