Amsterdam club Ajax, set to play AC Milan on Tuesday, is determined to prevent another embarrassing defeat like the one it suffered at the hands of Real Madrid (0-2) two weeks ago.

Ajax coach Martin Jol admitted at a press conference on Monday that “it will not be easy”. He added that “AC Milan are on a par with Real Madrid”.

Jol said AC Milan’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic was “the best striker in the world”, adding that “Robinho is unpredictable and we all know what happens once Ronaldinho gets going”. However, the Ajax coach said he was still confident his team stood a chance against AC Milan.

The Ajax players are equally confident they can beat the Italian team. Speaking after Monday’s training session, the last before Tuesday’s match at the Amsterdam ArenA stadium, Jan Vertonghen said his squad mates believe they can win the encounter.

Jan Vertonghen, who was on suspension during the away game against Real Madrid, said: “Unfortunately, things did not go well there, but we know we can do better. AC Milan may be on a par with Real Madrid, but playing before our own audience, we can beat them”. 

Special
AC Milan coach Massimo Allegri has said in Amsterdam that he has not decided yet which players he will field in Tuesday’s Champions League match against Ajax. He said he had not decided whether Ronaldinho would play: “That may depend on the training session. I have not yet made a final decision on whether Ronaldinho will play”.

The AC Milan coach said he took the match against Ajax seriously: “They have many individual qualities and always play a special kind of football. In the past, I have often enjoyed watching them play and I expect a match at the highest technical level”.

The Milan squad will include former Ajax player Clarence Seedorf, who turned down an offer to return to his old club. On Monday he said, “I have no idea if I will ever play for my old club again. It would be good if Ajax were to play in the Champions League every year, but I will be in Italy for the foreseeable future”. He added that he thought Martin Jol was a good coach and that “Ajax still has a place in my heart”.

Tickets
At the last possible moment, Ajax has managed to get hold of 350 tickets for Tuesday’s Champions League game. Just like the matches against Auxerre and Real Madrid, the match against AC Milan has already been sold out for two weeks. However, Ajax learned on Monday that UEFA had not claimed all the tickets it was entitled to. These additional tickets can be ordered via the Ajax website.