‘Just a top team’: Ajax coach hails ‘superior’ Liverpool after UCL win

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Ajax coach Alfred Schreuder admits the Eredivisie giants struggled to cope with the ‘intensity’ of Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool during the 2-1 Champions League group-stage defeat at Anfield, speaking to Ziggo Sport. 

After making their worst start to a new season since the Brendan Rodgers era – and with that 4-1 shellacking at Napoli still fresh in the memory – an Ajax team who arrived on Merseyside on the back of seven successive wins, having scored a staggering 25 goals during that run, certainly made for daunting opposition. 

But do not let the lateness of Joel Matip’s 89^th minute winner distract you from the superiority of Liverpool’s performance on Tuesday night. Mohammed Kudus’ stunning strike aside, May’s Champions League finalists dominated their in-form visitors almost from the first minute to the last; mustering 24 shots to three with Diogo Jota and Thiago Alcantara making a colossal difference on their return to the starting XI. 

This was, if not quite a nostalgia-inducing throwback of a performance, certainly more like it from a Liverpool perspective.

Mo Salah and Joel Matip score as Liverpool beat Ajax at Anfield

“We knew it would be a very tough game,” says Schreuder, who replaced Erik ten Hag at Ajax. “We said in advance that, if we were good on the ball, we would have a chance. But we certainly weren’t in the first half. 

“This is a different pressure and intensity than we were used to. Liverpool are just a top team. They have even more intensity than us. The reality is that they are better than us.

“We got control when we were good on the ball. When it gets physical, they are superior. Liverpool wanted that.”

Five of Schreuder’s starting XI on Tuesday night were aged 22 or younger. Marquee summer signing Calvin Bassey, in particula, struggled in perhaps his first outing against truly elite-level opposition. 

“(Losing) is not a disaster. But we have to learn from this,” Schreuder adds. “We are still developing. There are several guys who have not played in these kinds of matches. It is very good for them.”