when the draws for the 2016/17 uefa europa league was made, dutch side ajax amsterdam were drawn in group G, alongside panathinaikos of greece, belgium outfit standard liege and 2016/17 semi-finalist celta-vigo of spain.
ajax opening encounter was against panathinaikos of greece, played at apostolos nikolaidis stadium home ground of pana as they are fondly called. ajax came out with an away victory (1-2) with 3 red cards in that tie to ivan ivanov, wakaso mubarak (both panathinaikos) and hakim ziyech (ajax). the goals coming from chelsea loanee bertrand traore and jairo riedewald for ajax.
ajax topped group G with 14 points and qualified alongside celta vigo.
round of 32 came calling and ajax were pitted against polish side legia warsaw. it was a tie that was evenly matched as both sides cancelled eachother out. both defences were so stingy that after 180 minutes only one goal was recorded. it ended goalless in poland in the first leg of round of the round of 32. the only goal of the round was scored in the second half of the tie at amsterdam arena by Nick viergever. ajax were through to the round of 16 by the slimmest of margins.
up next came fc koebenhavn (fc copenhagen). the danish side had dispatched ludogorets razgrad in the previous round, but found ajax a different ball game. the first leg of the round was hosted by the danish side at telia parken. the home side came out all guns blazing by taking the lead in the very first minute through rasmus falk, ajax responded swiftly by drawing level on the night and having the priceless away goal through Kasper dolberg. the danish side regained the ascendency by taking the lead through prolific dane andreas cornelius. koebenhavn took a 2-1 lead to holland, the dutch outfit were not taking any prisoners winning the 2nd leg of the round of 16, 2-0 through two first half goals from striker bertrand traore and a penalty from kasper dolberg. the dutch outfit went through 4-1 on aggregate.
in previous rounds, ajax had the luxury of playing at home in the reverse fixture, they had things differently in the quarter-final against german power house schalke 04. the 1st leg was to be played in holland. ajax won the 1st leg of the quarter final 2-0 thanks to a brace from davy klassen, first of the goals a penalty in the 23rd minute and the second came in the 52nd minute. there was a sense of belief now growing around the fans that they could make it to the final. little did ajax know that the tie was far from over as schalke 04 had plans of their own. the fixture went to germany, venue veltins-arena. the dutch side kept the home team silent for the first half, but whatever the coach of the german side told his players paid dividends as they scored two quick goals at the start of the second half as they scored 2 goals in 2 minutes in the 53rd and 56th minute to lead 2-0 on the night and 2-2 on aggregate. things went from bad to worse for ajax as they had defender joel veltman sent off for a second bookable offence in the 80th minute. 2-2 on aggregate was how it ended in regulation time, meaning extra time was needed to seperate both sides. daniel caligiuri extended schalke 04’s lead in extra time in the 101st minute, as they lead 3-0 on the night and 3-2 on aggregate. ajax were not giving up yet and as they pulled one back, nick viergever the scorer in the 111th minute. that goal meant schalke had to score one more to win the tie. schalke 04 threw everyone forward in search of that elusive goal, but it was ajax who extended the lead in calamitous famous, as a mistake from schalke 04 defender let amin younes to further reduce the deficit to 3-2 on the night. there were no further goals as referee ovidiu hategan from romania blew the final whistle. ajax through to the semi-final of the second tier european competition 4-3 on aggregate.
the semi-final saw ajax play the first leg at home against french side olympique lyonnais (lyon). ajax raced to a 3 goal lead at home against lyon. goals from bertrand traore, kasper dolberg before half time, and a 3rd from amin younes, lyon pulled a goal back through mathieu valbuena. ajax restored their 3 goal advantage through no one else but chelsea loanee bertrand traore who has found his feet in holland with the dutch side. the first leg ended 4-1, ajax had one foot in the final. that’s what they thought but lyon did not read the script and had other ideas. the return leg saw lyon bombard the ajax goal with attack after attack, but it was ajax who took the lead against the run of play in the 27th minute through kasper dolberg, ajax were up 5-1 at this point of the tie. lyon responded however through want-away french striker alexander lacazette with two quick goals before half-time. first through a penalty after he was brought down in the box, the striker picked himself up and scored, lyon turned defence into attack and took the lead for the first time in first half added time. at half-time, the score-line was 2-1 on the night and 5-3 on aggregate, two further goals and extra time wpuld have been required. the second half started in similar fashion as lyon continued from where they left off. lyon were wasteful in front of goal, but substitute rachid ghezzal scored in the 81st minute to extend the lead to 3-1 on the night. like previous round, ajax had a man sent off yet again (nick viergever the culprit). sent off in the 84th minute. despite everything lyon threw at ajax, they held on to win the tie 5-4 on aggregate
the victory means ajax faces english side manchester united in the europa league final on the 24th of may 2017 at stockholm friends arena, sweden.
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