Ajax Coach Erik ten Hag reveals what he told his players at half-time against Juventus after the 1-1 draw. “It’s not the result you hope for, but is still a good result.”
David Neres scored straight after the restart, cancelling out the Cristiano Ronaldo opener in Amsterdam.
“Admittedly, 1-1 at home is not the result you hope for, but it is still a good result,” the Coach told Dutch television.
Ajax Coach Erik ten Hag reveals what he told his players at half-time against Juventus after the 1-1 draw. “It’s not the result you hope for, but is still a good result.”
David Neres scored straight after the restart, cancelling out the Cristiano Ronaldo opener in Amsterdam.
“Admittedly, 1-1 at home is not the result you hope for, but it is still a good result,” the Coach told Dutch television.
“Last time, we lost the first leg 2-1 at home to Real Madrid and turned that around, so everything is possible. We were dominant for large periods of the game, very calm on the ball and had some great scoring opportunities.”
Ajax had numerous shots on goal, especially from Hakim Ziyech, but very few of them were on target.
“Ziyech was in a good position on the edge of the box a few times, so in that situation, you have to pull the trigger. I think it’s good that Hakim tries from distance, as he has a fine shot.
“Juventus are capable of very quick transitions to counter, so after every little mistake we made, they’d run at us and become dangerous. That is how the opening goal came about.
“At half-time, I told the lads that we had to keep going, keep the pressure on and force Juventus to make mistakes. We put the pressure on and it was effective, as you saw by the number of chances we created.”
Ten Hag gave 19-year-old Jurgen Ekkelenkamp his Champions League debut for the final 15 minutes.
“I brought him on because Lasse Schöne was tired and on a yellow card. He did a great job and nearly scored a goal, while his professional foul to stop Ronaldo on the counter was an excellent choice.”