Ajax suffered their fifth loss in a row on Sunday afternoon in a bitter 5-2 defeat to PSV Eindhoven, seeing the side fall to the bottom of the Eredivisie. Check out how their side now compares to the Champions League semi-finalists of 2019 after a tough start to the season.
Ajax Lose Seventh League Game Of Season
Bronco van den Boomen opened the scoring for Ajax but it took their rivals just ten minutes to equalise through winger Hirving Lozano. Ajax took the lead again through Brian Brobbery, and they were winning 2-1 at half-time.
However, quick-fire goals from Luuk de Jong and Ismail Saibari put PSV 3-2 up just seven minutes into the second-half. Things went from bad to worse for Ajax as Lozano then scored another two to complete his hat-trick.
Chucky Lozano’s hat trick leads PSV to a 5-2 win over Ajax! 🔥
Ajax are now BOTTOM of the Eredivisie 🤯 pic.twitter.com/0D2jsQQOnk
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) October 29, 2023
It was yet another dismal display from the 36-time Eredivisie champions who have now lost five games on the bounce for the first time in their illustrious history. The Amsterdam outfit have won just once this season and that was on the opening day when they defeated Heracles 4-1.
Following their worst start to a season since the 1960’s we’re taking a look at how the squads compare from their Champions League heroics just a few seasons ago.
The Dutch giants were UCL semi-finalists in 2019, but four years on they are currently locked in a genuine relegation battle after starting the campaign so badly.
That run in Europe saw them beat Juventus over two legs and thrash Real Madrid 4-1 on their way to a last-four clash with Tottenham.
After defeating Spurs in the first-leg, they had one foot in the final, but a Lucas Moura hat-trick at the Johan Cruyff Arena saw the Premier League side eventually prevail.
— HotspurVideos3 (@HotspurVideos3) May 8, 2022
Now fast-forward a few seasons, and Ajax’s starting side is completely different, with not one remaining from their magical European journey.
Ajax Starting XI May 2019
Andre Onana; Joel Veltman, Matthijs de Ligt, Daley Blind, Nicolas Tagliafico; Lasse Schone, Frenkie de Jong, Donny van de Beek; David Neres, Dusan Tadic, Hakim Ziyech.
Most of this XI have gone on to join some of the biggest club’s in the world since. Andre Onana and Donny van de Beek find themselves at Manchester United, Frenkie de Jong is at Barcelona and Matthjis de Ligt represents Bayern Munich.
Ajax Starting XI October 2023
Diant Ramaj; Anton Gaaei, Josip Sutalo, Jorrel Hato, Gaston Avila, Branco van den Boomen, Kenneth Taylor; Steven Berghuis, Kristian Hlynsson, Steven Bergwijn; Brian Brobbey
It’s fair to say things have drastically changed in a few seasons, and Ajax have got a lot of work to do to get back amongst Europe’s elite.
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