Last season’s sensational silver-winners from FC Rostov are just two games away from the Champions League group stage. However, first of all they have to beat Dutch powerhouse Ajax. We have teamed up with Will Burns from Total Dutch Football to give you the best possible insight before the first of two crucial matches.
Ajax:
After a disappointing 2-2 draw at home to Roda JC on Saturday evening, Peter Bosz’s Ajax hosts Russian Premier League side FC Rostov in what could be the most important game of the Amsterdammers season.
Defeat in the first leg come Tuesday night would mean that Ajax would face a tough trip to western Russia to overcome the team that finished league runners-up last term to CSKA Moscow in the second leg. On that basis, bouncing back from a poor performance Tuesday night will be imperative.
Tactics
Bosz has tinkered with the usual Ajax formation this season and alternated from 4-3-3 to a 3-5-2 but should return with the flat back four against the Russians. Bosz’s preference is to play the possession game rather than a quick-counter system and this falls in accordance with Ajax’s approach last season under the leadership of Frank de Boer.
According to Opta, De Godenzonen were ranked third (54%) in the Eredivisie for retaining possession and although they can be force on the counter, the short passing and build-up play can frustrate opponents and be very successful for the Dutchmen.
Key Players
Since the sale of Arek Milik to Napoli, regardless of Kasper Dolberg’s best position, on the wing, he has been leading the line and has made an immediate impact. Displaying great composure, positioning and finishing abilities, his two goals against Roda at the weekend looked to have won the game until a stoppage-time equaliser by Tom van Hyfte meant the game finished tied.
The 18-year-old Dane is following in Christian Eriksen’s and Viktor Fischer’s footsteps and was scouted by John Steen Olsen. Dolberg’s debut came in the Champions League qualifier against Greek side, PAOK. During the 1-1 draw, Dolberg showed some real drive and determination, taking the lead up top with sharp link-up play with rookie Mateo Cassierra and Anwar El Ghazi.
He displayed determination that an experienced head would show and was rewarded with an equalising goal. This is indeed his breakthrough season and hopefully the loan signing of Bertrand Traore from Chelsea does not end the teenager’s development.
Predicted Line-Up
Returning back from a stupidly earned one match ban, Joel Veltman will replace Davinson Sanchez at the heart of defence while loanee Traoré could come into the attack at the expense of El Ghazi - although this plan could reverse and the Burkina Faso international may start on the bench.
4-3-3: Cillessen - Tete, Veltman, Riedewald, Dijks - Bazoer, Klaassen, Gudelj - Sinkgraven, El Ghazi/Traoré, Dolberg.
Prediction
This is a hard one to forecast but I envisage a score draw being the best Ajax can hope for. Things are not going to plan for Bosz and Ajax are in the middle of a transitional period. Rostov could not arrive into Amsterdam at a better time and I feel that Ajax will have it all to do next week.
FC Rostov
Rostov’s victory in Brussels two weeks ago over Anderlecht ensured European group stage football for the first time in the club’s history, with a tantalising caveat of an opportunity that it could be in the Champions League rather than the Europa League many predicted if they prove successful in the playoff round. While some hoped for a glamour tie against Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, the end result could prove the most fruitful in their hopes of progression after being paired with a below-par Ajax side, who’ve been going through a recent rough patch.
Since that high point at the beginning of August however, nothing has gone straight forward for last season’s RFPL surprise package. Days after their historic victory, influential coach Kurban Berdyev quit his role in the dugout, a decision that had been coming for the past six months after disputes with the club’s hierarchy, but nonetheless is a hammer blow to the club’s immediate future. This was followed by a substandard home season opener against Ural, which ended goalless, before defeat this weekend just gone away in St. Petersburg to Zenit, where they let go an early 2-0 lead.
Worries going forward concern further exits, with a number of the “Berdyev contingent” set to jump ship to join their coach at his new club Spartak Moscow. Rostov’s player of the night in Brussels Sardar Azmoun alongside Ecuadorian midfielder Christan Noboa, who made similar moves alongside Berdyev from Rubin to Rostov in the last two years are muted to be treading the same path of their Turkmenistani mentor once again.
To say Rostov are a side in transition would be an understatement, given that we’re only three games into the domestic season makes the situation ever more unstable. Former Rostov and national team striker Dmitri Kirichenko has taken over initially in the dugout while the Selmashi consider a full time appointment. A money spinning passage through to the Champions League group stages will do his case of taking over on a permanent basis the world of good.
Asked about what seems to be coaching chaos, Kirichenko said: “At this moment our team is in a tricky situation. We have had quite a hectic schedule and the coach of last season is set to leave the club – he will help us in the first leg against Ajax, though.”
Tactics
Aside to the pressure domestically which comes with such a lofty finish last season, Rostov’s cautious tactics have and will work wonders in Europe, where they will again be considered underdogs. Again they’ll aim to soak up possession before looking to hit the opposition on the counter attack, an approach that was fully utilised this weekend in their second goal against Zenit.
Key Players
Sardar Azmoun - The star man across their qualifying round with Anderlecht, especially in Brussels where he led the line brilliantly on the counter, is a pivotal figure once again but question marks continue to swirl around his future. While interest from Western Europe has cooled for the moment, after his red card against Ural and his subsequent suspension, Berdyev’s exit has generated murmurs that the Iranian striker will follow him to Moscow.
If Azmoun is unfavoured, or sold on in the meantime, Dmitri Poloz has proved he can comfortably fill in, as he did this last weekend netting an early brace in the capital.
Cesar Navas – Another player loyal to Berdyev in the past, the Spaniard is a key figure in the centre of Rostov’s three man defence. His European pedigree picked up while playing with Rubin Kazan will prove invaluable once more, given the lack of experience in the squad and now dugout.
Predicted Line-Up
5-3-2: Dzhanaev - Kudryashov, Novoseltsev, Navas, Bastos, Terentiev - Noboa, Gatcan, Kalachev - Azmoun, Poloz
Prediction
Heading to Amsterdam for the first leg, it’ll be a much tougher ask for Rostov than it was two weeks ago given the changing landscape at the club. What they do have in their favour however is an opposition out of form and the knowledge they have the home leg still to come.
It won’t be a surprise to see Rostov surrender a large portion of possession to the Dutch side, but if they can keep the deficit down, and look for an away goal on the counter, they’ll be more than confident returning home for the second leg.
Prediction: Ajax 2-1 Rostov
Author: Martin Lowe
Russian and Asian football follower and blogger.
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