UEFA Cup: Ajax face Auxerre in third round
17
December: Ajax was the 19th name to come out of
the bowl this afternoon at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon,
Switzerland, where the draw for the third round of the UEFA Cup
took place. The 20th was that of AJ Auxerre. Ajax will play the
current #4 from the French league at home on either 16 or 17
February 2005 (precise date t.b.a.). The away leg will follow a
week later on Thursday 24 February. If Ajax manage to beat
Auxerre on aggregate they will be up against the winner of FC
Basel vs Lille in March.
The club
Founded on 29 December 1905, the Association de la
Jeunesse Auxerroise -- more commonly known as AJ Auxerre
-- are about to celebrate their centenary. Exactly
75% of the club's history is rather modest and occurred
in the lower divisions of French football. Which is
no surprise if you take into consideration that the club's
home town of Auxerre is a small
provincial community of less than 50,000 souls.
It was not until 1980 that l'AJA first joined
the country's greats on the top flight of
the French league. Much to everyone's surprise the club,
known for its fine youth academy, almost immediately made an
impact. Two players from the 1983-1984 crop (Jean-Marc Ferreri
and goalkeeper Joël Bats) became respectable
internationals in the French national team that
would win Euro 1984 that season. Auxerre, much
to everyone's surprise, finished third in
the league, thereby qualifying for 'Europe' for the first
ever time.
It was only the beginning. Auxerre was a regular in UEFA
competition throughout the 1990s, the club's most glorious
decade so far. They grabbed their first ever major trophy
in May 1994 (the French Cup, beating Montpellier in the final),
but the best was yet to come: 1995-1996 saw the modest
provincial club clinching the 'double' in France,
and qualifying for the Champions League for the first ever
time (the club's first Champions League match, by the
way, was lost to... Ajax: 0-1).
The ever modest AJ Auxerre were now one of the
greatest clubs in modern French football. The World Cup
winning French squad of 1998 included three Auxerre
players (Guivarc'h, Diomède and Charbonnier). The club
remained a regular in UEFA competiton and added a third
Coupe de France to their trophy cabinet in May 2003,
beating Paris Saint-Germain in the final.
The most remarkable thing, perhaps, is the fact that all of
the above moments of glory were achieved under the reign of one
and the same head-coach: the legendary Guy Roux, who
first arrived at the club as a 23 year-old
player/manager in 1961. He left the club for a few short spells
elsewhere, but always returned and is currently a record
holder in the world of football:
no head-coach ever served a club as long as
Roux. Even when he announced his retirement (May 2000) he later
changed his mind... Guy Roux is AJ Auxerre - and
probably always will be.
The roster
AJ Auxerre is the 'Ajax of France': a club known for its
offensive football, focus on skill and also as a supreme
supplier of internationals. Like Ajax, the
club experiences an 'Ajax-like' exodus of self-developed
stars every once in a while. Last summer, for example, Philippe
Mexes, Olivier Kapo, Djibril Cissé and Jean-Alain
Boumsong all left Auxerre, leaving Guy Roux to pick up the
pieces with a new crop of young players and typically astute
signings like Luigi Pieroni, Benoît Cheyrou and
René Bolf.
The best known Auxerre player in The Netherlands,
no doubt, is Bonaventure Kalou. The striker from Ivory Coast
played for Feyenoord for a number of years before putting on
the white uniform of l'AJA in the summer of
2003. Kalou is one of Auxerre's best goalgetters this
season: he scored 14 goals so far, which makes him the club's
second best goalscorer. The best is Yann Lachuer, who netted 18
times. Kalou is not the only Ivorian in
Auxerre's side: Kanga Akale comes from the same
country.
The stadium
For the third time in the past ten season Ajax will find
themselves at Auxerre's intimate Stade d'Abbé
Deschamps, named after the priest who founded the club in
1905.
Built in 1918, the ground's official capacity is 23,467,
although in practice no more than 22,000 spectators are allowed
in.
Ajax vs Auxerre: the history
Ajax and Auxerre played four games against each other in
UEFA competition and Ajax's over-all memories of those
confrontations are not too pleasant. On 03 March 1993, in the
quarter final of the UEFA Cup, Ajax entered the pitch at
the Abbé Deschamps as the proud holders of the trophy.
The Amsterdammers took an early lead (goal by Stefan Pettersson
in the 3rd minute), but 90 minutes later the score-board said
4-2. Former Ajacied Frank Verlaat (the only player to have
played for both clubs) and Corentin Martins turned the
game around for Auxerre. Marciano Vink equalized, and
2-2 would have been an acceptable result for Ajax,
but the game turned into a nightmare for Ajax goalkeeper
Stanley Menzo in the last ten minutes: he pushed a Vahirua
corner into his own goal with his right hand, after which
Daniel Dutuel gave Ajax the knock-out blow in the last minute
(4-2).
His dramatic impersonation of a volleyball player cost
Stanley Menzo his slot (for good, so it would turn out). Ajax
started the return leg at Amsterdam's Olympic Stadium (16
March 1993) with an
unforgettably nervous Edwin van der Sar between the
posts. The young goalkeeper almost gave a goal away in the
opening minutes, but remained upright. A Frank de Boer header
in the 61st minute made it 1-0 to Ajax, but the subsequent
30-minute siege in a roaring 'Olympic' did not yield
the second goal Ajax required. Auxerre advanced.
Had the two games between Ajax and Auxerre in the group
stage of the 1996-1997 Champions League been a knock-out round,
the French would have eliminated Ajax once again. The start was
good for the Amsterdammers: on 11 September 1996 Ajax once
again took the pitch of the Abbé Deschamps as the clear
favourites, having starred in the two most recent
Champions League finals. Once again they netted early (Jari
Litmanen in the 4th minute) - and this time it was the only
goal of the game. A splendid start of the campaign.
Ajax won their first three group games straight and
only required a single point in the home game against Auxerre,
at a brand-new and sold-out Amsterdam ArenA on 20 November
1996. Due to injuries of defenders Frank de Boer and Marcio
Santos coach Louis van Gaal surprisingly played Mario Melchiot
and Ronald de Boer in the heart of defense, while
youngster Menno Willems played at left fullback. The start was
shaky and Bernard Diomède took advantage: 0-1 (11').
Tijjani Babangida equalized for Ajax just before the
half-time break, but thanks to a Steve Marlet goal (56')
Auxerre surprisingly left the pitch as the winners: 1-2.
Ajax made it to the semi-final of the competition that season,
but once again they had been beaten by Auxerre on
aggregate.
Quite remarkably, AJ Auxerre are the only French side to
have beaten Ajax on aggregate in UEFA competition. In total,
Ajax faced French opposition six times:
Olympique Marseille were eliminated in the fall of 1971
and in April 1988. Racing Strasbourg were brushed
aside in March 1980. And, finally, the full six points were
grabbed against Olympique Lyon in two Champions League
group games in the fall of 2002. It's a remarkable
Ajax statistic: good against French teams, but poor against
Auxerre...
Paradoxically, Auxerre have done well against Ajax in the
past, but their recent memories of Holland are not too
positive: last season they eliminated FC Utrecht, but were
later knocked out of the competition by PSV. And in this
season's UEFA Cup group stage they suffered a remarkable defeat
in Alkmaar, where AZ surprisingly outclassed them: 2-0. In
total Auxerre played no less than seven games against Dutch
teams in the past three seasons - and won only once. On Dutch
soil they didn't score a single goal. Yet another remarkable
statistic: Auxerre, poor against Dutch teams, but good against
Ajax...
If Ajax manage to beat l'AJA on aggregate
this time, they know what awaits them, namely the winner
of the two confrontations between Swiss champions FC Basel and
French outfit Lille. "If we get past Auxerre I think it will be
France once again," predicted Ajax boss Ronald Koeman.
Reactions
Ronald Koeman: "We preferred not
to play a Spanish opponent. We know Auxerre; they played AZ
recently. They beat Rangers by 2-0 the other day, which shows
that they're not an easy opponent. But it's not impossible.
They are not of the caliber of Juventus or Bayern Munich,
but they are much stronger than Maccabi Tel Aviv. It's a good
side, but we surely have a chance against them."
Julien Escudé: "I was hoping for a
French opponent! I find it very special to play a team from
France. I want the people in France to see how good Ajax are. I
played against most of Auxerre's players, but they have only
one player I've played on the same team with: that's Lionel
Mathis. We were team-mates for the French under-21 team (...)
Auxerre have a very strong defense, with some big blokes in it.
At Auxerre's tiny home ground we will have lots of possession.
But that's the danger: they can make you believe that they're
not that good, but then all of a sudden they go forward. I've
played them many times, thinking we were going to win, but
eventually we lost 1-0. The away game will not be easy.
Concentration will be the keyword. But we can do it. Of course
we can."
Tomás Galásek: "I'm glad we
didn't get a Spanish opponent. I would have liked Steaua
Bucharest or Benfica, but Auxerre sounded O.K. to me also.
They're a tough side to play and they keep getting better this
season. They also played Dutch sides before. I don't think
we're the favourites. The chance are 50-50, if you ask me. It
will depend on our form after the winter-break, but I think it
should be possible to beat them." (MP)
Update 31 December 2004: Ajax announced today
that the first leg against AJ Auxerre in the Amsterdam
ArenA will be played on Wednesday 16 February, kick-off 20:00
CET. The return leg in France will be played on Friday 24
February.
Sources: Ajax.nl, AJA.fr
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