Ajax coach Frank de Boer has given his side a 'five per
cent chance' of advancing to the knockout stages of
the Europa League:- Photo Filed.
Ajax coach Frank de Boer believes his side 'have a five per cent
chance' of progressing to the knockout stages of the Europa
League, ahead of their clash with Group A leaders Molde.
The Dutch giants need to beat the Norwegian side, who have
already secured their place in the round of 32, while hoping that
eliminated Celtic upset second-placed Fenerbahce away from
home in the group's other game.
De Boer is pessimistic about Ajax's chances and knows they
need luck on their side if they are to advance against Ole
Gunnar Solskjaer's men.
"Molde have proven to be a solid team that are well organised,
they are hard to beat," he said.
"I think we have a five per cent chance of making it through -
that's not a lot, but you never know in football.
"It's like in the casino - you lose most of the time, but every now
and then you win. Hopefully we will be lucky enough this time."
The 45-year-old feels that Ajax only have themselves to blame
for the situation they are in.
He insisted there is no major divide in quality between his side's
three opponents in Group A and the top three Dutch teams, and
his players should have put up more of a challenge.
"Fenerbahce, Celtic and Molde are not better than the big three
in the Eredivisie," he said.
"We should have collected at least seven points at home and we
are not going to make that [target]. 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."
Exiting the competition at this stage would mean Ajax have
failed to progress from the group stages of the Europa League
or the Champions League during De Boer's five years at the
helm.
They qualified for the Europa League knockouts in 2014-15 after
finishing third in their Champions League group, only to lose to
eventual finalists Dnipro in the round of 16.
And, despite winning the Eredivisie four times in that time, the
former Netherlands international is adamant his side should be
performing better in European competition.
"There have been some great highlights during my five years in
charge of Ajax, but some bad moments as well," he said.
"We won four domestic titles, but we did not do enough in
Europe – that's a shame.
"I would have loved to make it to the knockout stages of the
Champions League at least once."
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